Breaking Light
by VidielSilverbane
Summary: Second in "The Knight Chronicles" Renee and the Team are back, but what will happen when possibly their greatest foe isn't a Super Villain at all? RobinxOC, Spitfire, SuperMartian. T: LV, mostly. Sequel to "Nightshadow". Complete (sorta). It's been real, folks.
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N:**_

_**Okay, hey guys. Vid Silverbane here. If you're here because of Nightshadow, welcome back! If not, welcome! **_

_**~IMPORTANT: Those of you who haven't read Nightshadow, Breaking Light is the sequel to that fic. I recommend that you read that first, but I think that you can basically catch on to most of what happened as the sequel progresses. So you don't **__**have**__** to, but I strongly suggest it. And I'm pretty sure the fans of the original Nightshadow would agree. The only thing you definitely need to know prior to continuing on to the story is that Nightshadow is the alter ego/codename/ whatever you wanna call it of Renee Knight, who is my OC. The rest, yeah…either wait and discern it on your own, or go read Nightshadow…**_

_**Anyway, I should probably tell you all that this time around I **_**really **_**would like to hear suggestions as to what you guys would like to see like, happen and stuff. I mean, I have the backbone basically thought up, but most of the rest, like, the details and stuff…it's still a little fuzzy. I'm asking you guys for suggestions as we go partially because I've never written a sequel before, and partially because when I've asked for things in the past, you guys have given me some majorly cool ideas, some of which I used and one of which turned into my favorite chapter to write. So, basically, I want to make you guys happy. So if you have a suggestion, don't hesitate to either review or PM me (PM would probably be better, especially if it's a long suggestion. Lol.) **_

_**We cool? Okay. **_

_**~Warning!: First time writing from Kaldur's POV! :O **_

_**~Side note: since in Nightshadow I threw everything that happened after "Failsafe" out the window, this chapter is going to explain some…basically, I just shifted all the times around. Lol. I feel like I'm going to have to do that a lot. **_

_**On with the show!**_

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><p><span>Breaking Light: Chapter One:<span>  
>~Kaldur's POV~<p>

"_All our knowledge has its origins in our perceptions." –Leonardo da Vinci_

It was March. March 13th, to be exact. Which meant that Renee had been a member of Young Justice for nearly three months now. Needless to say, a lot had happened since then. Not only had the team spent their first…winter festivus…together, but Zatanna moved permanently into Mount Justice and Kid Flash saved the life of a Queen.

Also, everyone has fallen in love.

Except for me.

Looking at Wally and Artemis, M'gann and Conner, Robin and Renee, I thought of Tula and Garth.

_I will stay strong for the sake of my team. _I decided with authority. I could not let my own heartache wash out their happiness.

I was happy for them, really. They are my team, they deserve to be happy. Zatanna and I…we are the only ones alone, and I had come to accept that Zatanna would not rest until Robin was hers. As the leader, I should have done something to prevent this line of action. But there was nothing I could have done. Nothing stopped Zatanna. We all had already discovered that the difficult way.

I found myself wanting to speak with Roy. I could not help but think he would know what to do. But alas, I, as team leader, had to find a way to get out of my "funk", so to speak, on my own.

"Hiya Kaldur!" I turned around to see Renee directly behind me, looking up at me with cerulean eyes.

"Hello, Renee." I replied, nodding in greeting.

"I was thinking…besides the beach and Mount Justice, the team doesn't hang out together much." She rocked back on her heels, and I could tell she was trying to find the correct words for the question she was going to ask.

"Continue." I was honestly intrigued. I had been attempting to find a way for the team to bond since Renee (and then Zatanna) had become part of the team, and had come up with nothing that was sure to work. The inkling of knowledge that Renee may have come up with something burned at my mind. I was nearly eager to know her thoughts on the matter.

"Well, I was trying to figure out a way to…bond, so to speak, and then I remembered: my brother always said that there were two ways to create a team bond." She paused, as if to make sure I was paying attention. I inclined my head as to show her that it was alright to go on.

"The first is to have the entirety of the team go to a large social gathering in which they know no one but each other. But that can get extremely awkward and unless the entire team is relatively shy in nature, the desired effect won't come. But the _second,_ that's the kicker. See, first we need to talk to Bats…"

I had to admit, if she was able to pull off her plan, it would be _perfect._ Or, as near perfect as humanly possible.

But, unfortunately, not everyone on the team would be happy about it.

I told her as such, and she said she had a plan for that, as well.

I could not help but marvel at the two sides of Renee: there was the strong, mature, intelligent, and powerful Nightshadow; but then there was Renee, who was before me now. A vivacious, caring, (not to mention emotional) young teenager whose only goal was to make the lives of the people around her better.

"So, you'll help?" She asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.

"Yes. I will help." I watched as my response received a bright grin.

"Okay, fantastic! Oh, and Rob's in on it, too. So if you have any questions, talk to him. I gotta go talk to our favorite Bat!" She waved good-bye cheerily, before the curl of black smoke and tell-tale _**pop!**_ assured me she had teleported off to – well, I was not quite sure where.

_Wherever Batman is. That is probably why she told Robin, so that she could talk to the Batman. But why tell me? _Her telling Robin, I understood. It was clear that her feelings for him were strong – some of the strongest I had ever seen. Aquaman had agreed with me about that inference.

But I had no reasonable explanation for her telling me of her plans. I was team leader, certainly, but Renee had done things without tell anyone but Robin before – why did it change now?

As I let my mind ponder that thought, I walked around Mount Justice. Even with the entire team here – somewhere – it still felt as ominous and empty as ever.

I found myself in the solitude of the training area.

"Might as well make use of the quiet." I said to myself, drawing into a fighting stance.

* * *

><p>"Wait, wait, wait. We're doing <em>what <em>now?" That was Artemis' reaction when the Batman came in a few hours later and told us we were going for a weekend training "camp".

"You will be going into the wilderness for a 56-hour training experience. Your covers have already been given to your respective schools, since you will all be leaving Friday morning." The Batman's commanding voice explained without emotion.

"Will any of you be with us?" I asked, although I knew the answer already. But Renee had entrusted me with asking the question if no one else did, so I had no choice but to comply.

"Yes." He replied. I, however, knew the case was otherwise.

From the other side of the room, Renee gave me a knowing wink. Robin, standing by her side with his arm around her in an almost protective way, smirked.

"So, lemme get this straight. We're spending the entire weekend in the middle of nowhere doing nothing but _train_ under the supervision of you guys? _So_ not cool!" Wally whined. If I did not know any better, I would have said that the Dark Knight had _sighed_ at the red-headed speedster's complaint.

"Yes, Kid Flash. You are correct. Continue on with what you were previously doing. And be ready to leave early Friday morning." And with a dramatic swirl of his cape, the team's handler left us to discuss our sudden weekend plans amongst ourselves.

"This is _so_ ridiculous." Zatanna declared with a huff as soon as the Dark Knight had disappeared with the flash of golden light the Zeta-tubes produced.

"It's not like you had any plans." Renee muttered, but if the young magician had heard her, she did not take any notice.

_Good. Maybe Zatanna has decided to take the high road, so to speak. _

I had thought too soon.

"Batman said that we had to bring tents. I think we need to bring three." She said, folding her arms across her chest.

"Why three?" M'gann's confusion was palpable. I had to agree with the Martian, our tents easily held six people each, and if we were splitting it by gender, we would only need two tents.

"Because there's no way in _hell_ I'm spending more time than I have to with _her._" Zatanna spat, and I did not have to follow her accusing finger to know who it was pointed towards.

"Oh, c'mon Zatanna!" Wally sighed, while at the same time Robin snapped, "Take that back!"

Seeing this as my moment to intervene, I stepped between the two ebony-haired teenagers.

"This is _exactly_ why Batman is making us do this! We cannot be a team if we are always at each other's throats!" I tried to stay as calm as I could, but there was still a bubble of rage pooling in my stomach. We had been getting along so well, what had happened?

The answer came to me unwillingly.

_Renee happened._ Ever since the fateful day that she had teleported into our lives, the entire team had been turned upside-down. We faced perhaps the sickest villain yet as a full team, not to mention an onslaught of ousted emotions that were previously being danced around.

_No, Renee joining the team was not as big of a trigger as Zatanna being brought in. _Renee had brought us together, in a way, if I thought about it. Zatanna's not-so-hidden feud with her was the reason we were back at square one.

It did not matter who had done it, anyway, but it did not stop me from focusing my anger about the situation towards the magician.

"Ugh! I can't _handle_ you people!" Zatanna threw up her hands in a flourish and stormed off. For a moment, I thought of following her. One look at Renee's face, though, stopped all of those thoughts immediately.

It was obvious she was trying to be strong, trying to be the Nightshadow, but her cerulean eyes were filling with tears. The Little Bird reached out to his Shadow, surprisingly, she turned away. Artemis took the young teen under her arm and guided her away, down the long hallway. After they had gotten out of sight, I turned to look at Robin.

His hurt was etched across his face.

"I – I don't understand." He managed to say, and M'gann was instantly there by his side.

"It's okay, Robin. Sometimes a girl needs the comfort that another girl can bring, preferably one who's been there before…or so I've come to understand." I could not help but smile at my green teammate. She was definitely the 'mother' of the Team, and it was times like this that I was extremely grateful for it. She did her self-designated job well.

Then Wally said something ridiculous, which made Robin laugh, and I took it as my cue to leave.

_Robin will be fine. Renee will be fine. Zatanna…I am not sure. _I decided that the only way to decipher how to handle Zatanna was to ask someone who had experience.

I had to talk to Artemis.

…After she finished calming down Renee, of course.

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><p><em><strong>Ta-da! End of chapter one.<strong>_

_**So, what do you think? Good? Bad? I'm setting up some things! Yay! Things!**_

_**I know my Kaldur is a little shaky, but I had been wanting to do a chapter from his POV for a while and…yeah. **_

_**In other news, I am going to be going through Nightshadow with a fine-tooth comb in my spare time to fix any grammatical errors and such – because what's the point of calling a story complete if there's errors? **_

_**Anyway, that's that. Hope you enjoyed it. Sorry it's short. **_

_**Word Counts:  
>This Chapter: 1,663<br>Total: 1,663**_

_**Stay Awesome and Happy Writings,  
><strong>__**Vid.**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N:**_

_**Hey there! **_

_**Chapter two! **_

_**I was so excited about the amount of feedback I got from chapter one, I was like, SQUEE! And my friend was like, what? And I said, ''look at this!'' and he was like, ''dude, you're famous!'' and then I laughed because I'm not. **_

_**But the point is, you guys are like, the best. I love you. **_

_**So, without any further sap from the writer…**_

* * *

><p><span>Breaking Light: Chapter Two:<span>  
>~Artemis' POV~<p>

"_The less people speak of their greatness, the more we think of it." – Lord Bacon_

It was weird, seeing her cry.

The more I thought about it, the more I realized how rare it was. I had seen her angry, happy, serious, frightened – sure, she had teared up a bit a few times, especially during the whole Clockwork ordeal. But to see her full-out sobbing on the kitchen floor of her sleek townhouse in Rich Gotham…

It was kind of frightening.

Not in the, running-for-my-life or murderous-clown-currently-trapped-in-the-closet frightening, but still scary all the same. I wasn't quite sure what I was supposed to do, so I shuffled around a bit and took in my surroundings.

Renee had never let any of us (save Robin) come to her house before, and I could see why. It was _expensive._ She had always said that her father had bought the place when Renee was four and had been renovating it up until two months before his death. I told her that it sounded like a lot of time. She said that it had needed a _lot _of work. Now it was hers, because everything in the will went to her and her brother, and since he passed as well, it all went to her.

"A-Admiring the decoratin'?" I started at her quavering voice coming up from the floor.

"Your dad had an eye for interior decorating." I said as calmly as I could. In all honestly, I was worried about the young teen. Looking down, her eyes had gone from the clear blue of this morning to a cloudy gray, and her whole face was red from crying. It was a startling realization that one of her own _teammates_ could affect her more that a _super villain_ could.

"Se…god, 'm srry." She hiccupped, then took a deep breath. "Was his hobby."

"Ahh." I said, nodding. I could tell he was passionate about it, and I had only seen the kitchen. And the outside, of course, but the outside looked just like all the other houses on the block. We lapsed back into silence, and I continued to look around.

Everything in the kitchen was either black or chrome. Except the appliances, which were cherry red. It looked like I was standing in a page of IKEA or Homegoods or some other catalog that's like, 'look what you can do with your house!' and then you realize that it costs both legs and at least one arm to get your house decorated like that.

Yeah, no denying Renee was rich now.

"Um, Renee?" I asked tentatively, unsure of where I was going.

"Mm?" She grunted in reply, and I took it as a 'Yes, Artemis? Go on.' So I went on.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" I let her choose what 'it' I was talking about. Quite honestly, I wanted to know why she shied away from Robin earlier when he tried to comfort her – she'd never done that before.

"Zatanna's a bitch, and I let everything fester with her, and then it boiled over, and I cried. What's there to talk about?" It sounded as if she was checking things off a list as she explained herself. I sighed and plopped myself down ungracefully on the floor by her side.

"About _Robin_." I emphasized. Renee rubbed at the back of her neck for a minute, then looked at me with her cloudy, gray gaze.

"He just…he doesn't _get_ it. He doesn't understand why Zatanna hates me so much. He can…he can be so _dense_ sometimes. And then he tries to help and I wind up having to explain the same thing like, six times and he still doesn't understand that sometimes girls just _hate_ each other and won't get over it. I knew that I would just have to explain it again, so I made it look like I didn't want to be in his company…do you understand what I'm saying? 'Cause at this point I'm just rambling." She stared at me expectantly.

Truthfully, I _did_ understand where she was coming from. Sometimes, Wally just didn't understand, and I would go to someone else for help. But the method of Renee getting Rob off her back…that didn't fit.

"Yeah…you could've just told him you'd rather talk to a girl about it instead of hurting him like that." I told her.

"But he's already _getting _hurt!" Nightshadow suddenly burst out angrily. As if realizing what she just said, she instantly slapped her hand over her mouth.

_Now_ everything made sense.

"You think that spending less time with Robin will get Zatanna to calm down some." I stated rather than asked, cause I knew I was right.

"Yeah," Renee nodded, "it hurts Rob _so much_ when Zatanna starts saying shit to me. I don't want him to hurt because of me. I wouldn't care if everything Zatanna says to me is a cutthroat comment if it didn't hurt him so much." I saw tears start to well up in her eyes, so I pulled her into a hug.

Hey, what can I say, sometimes hugs are necessary.

"You can't just shun Rob like that. You're hurting him more by doing that than Zatanna hurts him with her comments."

"I realize that _now_. But what else am I supposed to do?" I couldn't tell if she was whining or not. It sure sounded like it. I was about to reprimand her for it, but then I remembered she was only thirteen.

_Everyone's aloud to complain every once in a while._ I told myself.

"Personally, Renee, I would go and talk to Robin about it. He'll understand more than anyone your motivations. He can even help, most likely." The Shadow hummed in response.

"Want me to call him?" I asked, unsure of what else to say.

"Yes, please." I got up and pulled out my phone.

* * *

><p>I insisted on leaving before Robin arrived at Renee's house, I didn't want to be there. It felt like an invasion of their privacy. So, instead, I went back to Mount Justice, intent on finding Wally to see if he had talked to the Bird…and because I just wanted to be with the idiotic redhead.<p>

Something about Renee and Rob's relationship just makes me wanna _do stuff_ with Wally.

…in the most innocent way possible, I mean.

Like the day before, he had been teaching me how to cook some crazy concoction of his. _That_ kind of stuff.

"Artemis, may I speak with you for a moment?" Kaldur's voice called from behind me as I was making my way to the kitchen (no doubt where Wally would be at that time of day).

"Sure, Kaldur, what's up?" I asked, turning to face the Atlantian.

"What do you think we should do about the Zatanna situation?" He whispered, his voice just barely audible.

"Um, bring a separate tent for her and hope that 56 hours without any way of leaving us gets all the anger issues out of her?" I really didn't understand why Kaldur was asking _me_ this. Practically anyone else would be better help.

I'm just the Queen of Helping People, I guess.

"Is Renee alright?" He answered my question with a question.

"Yeah, she's gonna be fine. Robin should be at her house by now…they're all good, in case you wanted to know. And as for this stupid camping trip thing, I think she'll be okay." I could say that part with confidence. I knew she'd be in total Nightshadow-mode during the trip.

"Good, she will be acting as Nightshadow, then? Because she will need all the strength she can get for Zatanna. I heard her banging things around in one of the training rooms. She sounds angry."

_God, does _everyone_ give Renee and Nightshadow two different personality classifications? I thought it was just me…_

"Yeah, I think we'll all be in a sort-of hero mode. To impress Batman and the others, I mean." I decided to skim over the whole Zatanna-being-angry thing as much as I could.

"Yes, yes, of course." Kaldur said, sounding distracted.

"As for the Zatanna thing, I think that the best thing to do is just ride it out…she'll get over herself eventually." I told him.

_Hopefully_. My subconscious added.

"Alright, well, I will not keep you. See you later, Artemis." Kaldur waved his hand in parting and headed back to the Zeta-tubes.

Declaring the entire day completely screwed up and wasted, I headed to the kitchen (again) to find Baywatch.

"Hey! Arty! There you are! Is Renee okay?" The speedster's familiar lit drifted towards me, and suddenly I was staring straight into his emerald green eyes.

"She's fine, Baywatch." I said, fudging my annoyance at him calling me Arty. He thought it bothered me still.

I secretly liked that he said it.

"Good, because Rob took off and I made too many tacos." Laughing, I followed him to the kitchen.

_Hopefully Rob understands Renee's reasoning. _I thought, wishing for the best.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Woo! <strong>_

_**Chapter two complete!**_

_**Chapter three is gonna be Rob talking to Renee! (Yay! Robin's POV!)**_

_**So, um, until next time!**_

_**PS – Next update will either be like, Wednesday or the Wednesday after that…going on a Band trip to Florida next weekend! . Just wanted to let you know.**_

_**Also, for those of you who read PoA, I apologize, but I am stuck in a creative rut. Hopefully it'll be updated before spring break.**_

_**Word Counts:  
>This chapter: 1,506<br>Total: 3,169**_

_**Stay Awesome and Happy Writings,  
>Vid.<strong>_


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N:**_

_**Heyyoooo!**_

_**So, they're finally going camping!**_

_**And I know, I totally skipped the whole Renee-and-Rob-talk-it-out thing, and I wrote that, but then I realized it was the totally predictable girl-tries-to-explain-and-guy-has-lightbulb-moment-type of thing, and scrapped it. This is soooo more interesting.**_

* * *

><p><span>Breaking Light: Chapter 3:<span>  
>~Robin's POV~<p>

"_Always forgive your enemies – nothing annoys them so much." – Oscar Wilde_

Bats shouldn't have said "We'll meet you there".

…Seriously. Shouldn't have said it. Even _Wally_ got suspicious at that. And he's Kid Idiot. But, to Renee and I's chagrin, they didn't ask.

So now, here we were, in the Bioship, going to the middle of nowhere, and everyone was about to get really angry at us.

I guess it's fair, we _did_ keep a secret.

But I kept secrets all the time, and they didn't seem to mind that…did they? Shrugging the thought off, I let some idle part of my mind fiddle with it and turned my attention to the Team.

M'gann was talking to Conner about – of all things – _vegetation_, Kaldur seemed to be trying to contact Roy (Renee wanted the archer in on this 'team bonding' too, even though he only sometimes associated himself with us), and KF was messing with Artemis. So, nothing out of the ordinary.

That is, of course, until Zatanna got up and moved so she was standing in front of Renee.

I immediately tensed, preparing to backlash anything she threw at my Shadow, but before the magician could so much as open her mouth, the teleporter was already speaking.

"I'm sorry. Look, I've said this before and I'll say it again: deep down, you're a nice person, Zatanna. And I know times are a little rough for you right now, with your dad and all. I get it. The League has always been more my family than my family, especially when Logan was alive.

"But what I don't understand is why you hate me so much. I don't wanna fight you; we're supposed to be a team. And I was under the impression that teams aren't supposed to fight one another. Maybe I was wrong. So I just wanted to tell you before you said anything, because I can tell by your mannerisms that you were about to make another one of your 'comments' so to speak. You can continue on with what you were going to say now, if you wish." Glancing out of my peripherals, I could tell that the whole team was staring at Renee.

_Good job, Shadow._ I thought, smiling inwardly. We had decided that the best thing to do was for Renee to speak her mind and then take Zatanna's lead from there. It was the best way to handle the fact that Zatanna hated her for, as I understand now (I think), no reason.

Needless to say, Renee was asterous and Zatanna was totally dumbstruck.

Everyone else was whelmed.

"I – I…." Zatanna started to stutter until Megan cut her off with an overly-cheery "We're here!"

"Where ever 'here' is, right Rob?" KF joked, playfully elbowing me as we all walked into an open, grassy clearing.

"Right." I said in my best 'I'm-totally-_not_-hiding-a-secret-from-you' voice. The early morning air sent a chill down my spine, but I could tell that it was going to get warmer. Plus, no wind. That was a bonus.

"So, when is Batman going to get here? Or, like, Canary or whoever they're sending?" Artemis asked to no one in particular as she stared up at the sky. Renee shot me a panicked glance.

"Uh, we should probably start unloading stuff." I responded, walking towards the Bioship. I heard Renee mutter a 'yeah' and hurry after me.

_Smooth evasive tactics, Dick._ I scolded myself, pulling out the first box of supplies.

Hey, this was supposed to be a _bonding_ trip, not a _training_ trip, right? We needed a _lot_ of supplies. And food. Lots of food.

Wally, Renee and I made quick work of getting everything out of the Bioship – I would push boxes into two piles (heavy and light), then my best friend would run the light ones out and my girlfriend would teleport with the heavier ones.

Pretty sweet system, am I right?

Megan and Conner unpacked everything, with Artemis and Zatanna moving the food to a location where no wild beasts could get to it. Kaldur had walked to the edge of the clearing, still trying to contact Roy.

"I don't think he's gonna answer, Kaldur." I told him, walking over after my portion of the unpacking process had been completed.

"Yes, I know it does not seem that way. But still, this bonding would be beneficial for him, as well as us." Kaldur responded with a very un-Kaldur-like sigh.

"Wait, _bonding_? What happened to training?" I whipped around to see a _very_ angry Superboy stomping towards us, his Martian girlfriend trailing helplessly behind him.

"Busted." I muttered to Kaldur, who gave me a minute nod in return.

"What's going on?" KF zipped up to us, followed closely behind by Artemis, Zatanna, and Renee. I gulped. This was so _not_ asterous.

_Get traught, Dick! She's counting on you!_ I spared a quick glance at Renee, who was looking at me, concern evident in her emerald eyes.

"Well, um, you see…" I trailed off, looking to Kaldur.

"Yes, the League…" Kaldur stopped as well, shifting uncomfortably.

"The League isn't coming, guys. It's just us here. Alone. In each other's company. What better way to bond than to hang out together in the middle of nowhere?" Renee piped up from behind them, giving her best what-can-you-do shrug before teleporting next to me.

"Oh, and you can't leave." She added pointedly.

"Why not?" Zatanna snapped, and I started to think (not for the first time) that this was a bad idea.

"Because Manhunter just took away the Bioship." Shadow stated with another shrug, and I pointed behind them to add to the effect.

Sure enough, the Bioship was flying itself away, back towards where we came. Artemis was the first to recover.

"You _knew? _The three of you _knew _and you didn't bother to _tell_ us?" The Archer exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air in frustration.

"It was supposed to be a secret." Renee bit down lightly on her bottom lip and stared at the dirt beneath our feet. I reached out and grabbed her hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. She squeezed back. Neither of us let go.

"The plan was for us to discover that the League had left us here by ourselves. We were not planning on telling you all we knew." Kaldur expanded, sticking up for Renee.

"Yeah, we knew you guys would never agree to it otherwise, but we need time to become one team again, and this seemed like the best option." I finished up, directing my response towards Wally more than anyone. He may be an idiot, but the redhead was probably going to be the most understanding. (Besides M'gann, but she never really get angry, so she doesn't count.)

"But you guys still _lied_ to us. Batman _told_ you and you _lied._" Zatanna snapped. I kept up my stoic mask, but I squeezed Renee's hand again. Wally must've noticed, because he turned towards me with one eyebrow raised.

"Who _exactly_ thought of this plan, anyway?" He asked. I felt my Shadow start to move, to confess, so I pulled a total Kid Idiot move.

"I did." I blurted out before Renee got the chance to say anything. Yeah, I lied again, but I wasn't going to give Zatanna another reason to hate her.

"No, he didn't. I did. It was something my brother taught me. He played lacrosse in high school and his coach did it one year to the team because they couldn't get along on the field. It made them a better team. Rob mentioned that Bats was trying to think of some sort of new team bonding exercise and well…I thought the same technique could apply to us. I'm sorry; I didn't think you guys would get so angry. Wasn't thinking." She shifted her feet as she talked, but for the most part kept eye contact with the team.

_Not everyone is as spontaneous as Logan Knight_. I thought ruefully as memories of Logan whisking Renee (and sometimes me, too) places without a moments notice were drug up from the depths of my mind. I felt a – unfortunately – familiar pang in my gut. Logan was a really cool guy. I wished half-heartedly that the team had met him.

With a jolt, I realized the entire team was looking at me now. So, I nodded to show my agreement with Renee, and I saw Kaldur do the same out of the corner of my eye. To be honest, I kinda expected them to not be _thrilled_, but I _definitely_ didn't expect a full-out confrontation.

"Yeah, well, it _is _a pretty cool idea. I mean, a whole weekend without any adults telling us what to do? Sounds like a par-tay to me!" Wally exclaimed animatedly, which made Artemis and I laugh. Eventually, everyone else joined in, and I could feel the tension dissipate.

"Anyone else hungry? _Besides_ Wally. You're always hungry." Renee, now visibly _much _happier, walked over to where the food was and started pulling out cans and packages – seemingly at random.

"Ooh! Let me help!" Megan flew over to the smaller teen and they began talking recipes and such.

"Hey, Rob, I'm gonna go check out the surrounding area, see if there's anything cool. I thought I saw a lake earlier. Wanna come with?" KF asked. Looking up at the redhead, I gave him a small shake of the head 'no'.

"Sorry KF, but I'm gonna pass this time. Don't go too far, kay? You don't wanna be outside of yelling distance, or else you won't know when the food's ready." I joked, jabbing him in the gut with my finger.

"Ha-ha, very funny, Boy Wonder. Tell Arty where I went." And with that, my best friend became a blur streaking into the woods.

"Where's Baywatch going?" I spun around sharply to see Artemis standing there, arms folded across her chest.

"Thought he saw a lake when we were in the Bioship. Went to check it out. Said to yell when food was ready." I relayed before starting to go off to find Renee. Artemis caught my upper arm, her grip like a vice.

"You let him go on his own? Idiot. Whatever, that's besides the point. Is Renee okay? Are _you_ and Renee okay?" Artemis' gray eyes turned dark and locked with mine. I could practically _feel_ the worry coming off of her in waves.

"Yeah, she's fine, we're fine. Don't worry about it so much, Artemis. You're being _way _too chalant about it, you'll give yourself an ulcer." I answered flippantly before wrenching my arm out of her grasp and going over to where everyone else was. I heard a faint beep and looked down to see my communicator had lit up.

"Um, go for Robin?" I asked, pressing the button.

"Robin? It's Red Arrow. Aqualad was trying to contact me, but I was busy. What's up?" Roy's voice crackled down the line.

"We're camping, and we were trying to get a hold of you to see if you wanted to come too." I shortened the story as much as I could.

"We?"

"Yeah, um, the whole team. No adults, just Young Justice."

Silence.

"Send me your coordinates. Do I need to bring anything?" I broke into a toothy grin.

"Nope! Coordinates on their way." I pulled up my holo-computer_*****_ and sent him our coordinates before cutting the link.

"Guys, Roy's coming!" I shouted over to them.

"Roy is coming? Wait, Hello, Megan! You just _said _that!" M'gann laughed, and everyone else shared their thoughts about Roy joining our camping trip. Artemis just huffed.

_Figures she wouldn't be too whelmed about it. She doesn't like sharing the archer spot._

A flash of black and violet caught my eye, and I turned to see Renee and none other than Zatanna out at the tree line having a conversation so quietly that I doubted Supey could hear them. Deciding I should get closer, I melted away into the shadows and jumped from tree to tree until I was right above them, perched precariously on the sturdy branch of an oak.

"-ut really Zatanna? Cut the crap, I know that you didn't drag me over here to talk about _cooking methods._" Renee was saying, folding her arms in the classic female defense position.

"Fine. I just wanted to let you know that whatever peace it _seems_ like I'm keeping with you out there is a lie. So don't get your hopes up." The dark-haired magician snarled.

"Dude, Zatanna, I don't get it. _Why_ do you hate me so much?" The teleporter shot right back, and if I didn't know any better, I would have sworn that she gave the other girl a _pitying_ look.

"You _really_ couldn't figure it out on your own? Wow. That's like, sad. Let me spell it out for you:  
>You. Stole. Robin. Away. From. <em>Me.<em>" Renee gasped, and it took all my willpower for me not to jump out of the tree and reveal myself right then and there.

"Stole – I've known Rob since we were _nine_, Zatanna, and he's now nearing fourteen. I didn't _steal_ him from you, because I knew him first." She said defensively, but Zatanna didn't seem to buy it.

"Then you disappeared without a trace and I met him and he was starting to like me but then you _show up again_ out of the blue and he acts like you never left and he and I never had anything going on between us and you _stole _him from me." I couldn't see Zatanna's face, but I was sure that the look she was giving Renee was one of pure rage and hatred.

It all made sense.

I mean, sure I had flirted with her, but so had Wally. We just kinda flirted with everyone. It's what dudes _do_ in their spare time. But Zatanna and I never had anything, we had never even kissed.

…Why did she seem to think like I _belonged_ to her?

"Zatanna, there wasn't anything going on with you and Rob. I'm sorry if I made you feel like you were being pushed out. But if you're trying to get me to break up with him or something, that's not gonna happen." Renee held her hands up in the universal sign of surrender, which just made Zatanna laugh.

"Oh, I don't _want_ you to break up with him." She said with an insinuative smirk. Renee tilted her head to the side and raised an eyebrow, confused.

"No?"

"No. Because I'm going to _take _him from you. _Right out from under your nose._"

* * *

><p><em><strong>* : I dunno what else to call it, of that's the technical terminology, I'm just too lazy to look it up. Sorry. <strong>_

_**Bum, Bum, BUMMMM!**_

_**Heeheehee. Sorry at the cut off, but I felt like it was a good ending point and I'm really tired but I wanted to get this up because I'm just so excited that I finished this chapter so quickly because I haven't finished a chapter this quickly in FOREVER.**_

_**Anyway, review or whatever if you wanna, and I will continue to scribble things in the margins of my notes for you all!**_

_**Word Counts:  
>This Chapter: 2,442<br>Total: 5,611**_

_**Stay Awesome and Happy Writings, (Really need an acronym for that.)  
>Vid.<strong>_


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N:**_

_**Alright, here we go. Can't believe it's chapter four already. Makes me happy happy happy! :D**_

_**WARNING**__** for this chapter, (especially the beginning half, there's some strong foul language...and 'god' a few times, too. So, yeah. But, it is, yet again, nothing you don't hear in a typical high school hallway. So I figure, no harm done, right? Right. **_

_**Sorry if I offend you, though. **_

…_**So, yeah. Here's the product of that ridiculously long bus ride! :D enjoy.**_

* * *

><p><span>Breaking Light: Chapter 4:<span>  
>~Renee's POV~<p>

"_Life's hard. It's even harder when you're stupid." – John Wayne_

Holy _fuck_. I took a step back, and became suddenly aware of the shock on my face. It didn't matter, though. I didn't care.

"W-what?" I managed to choke out. Zatanna's eyes were burning with a furious determination that bore into my soul. Above me, I saw a flicker of light.

_Robin._ I inwardly gasped. There was nothing else that I was so familiar with than those glasses which caught the sun. All my original ways of handling the magician in front of me (aka, not telling anyone) was scrapped out the window.

She advanced towards me, and I backed away until my back slammed against the rough trunk of a tree.

"You heard me." She growled menacingly low, rivaling Batman in terms of scary. I could have sworn that her eyes glinted red for a moment, but before I could do more than recognize it, it was gone.

"Zatanna, why are you doing this? You can't – somewhere, you _know_ this isn't right." I didn't dare raise my voice above a whisper; the team didn't need to hear. The team didn't need to interfere. It would screw up my plan for this weekend. And that _couldn't_ happen.

_It's not something I can't handle._ I tried to tell myself, but I knew it was a lie. I knew I would need help.

_Bringing in others will just get more people hurt. _Plus, I just didn't want them to see me frightened.

"Oh, please. Don't even try talking me out of this. My mind's made up. I don't _care_ at this point, intruder. This team has gotten into _nothing_ but trouble because of you. I can't risk Robin getting hurt _any_more because of _you._" She spat back, and I blinked a few times at the actual _sense_ the girl was making…even if it was half-ass.

I couldn't push down the bubble of doubt that had formed in my stomach at her words. Then I glanced up at Robin, finally making him aware that I knew he was there.

One look at his face popped that goddamn bubble.

_No, she's wrong._ He mouthed, but he didn't have to. I could tell just from the way he was looking at me that he believed in me.

Suddenly, Zatanna's thin hand shot out and locked onto my bicep.

"Zatanna." I threatened, staring her down and using my best menacing-voice. But the ebony-haired girl was too enraged to take note, or just didn't care. She gave a low bark of laughter.

"Where ever you go, I go, too." She smirked, and my eyes widened as I realized she was right. I couldn't get away by teleporting – I would be taking her with me. (Hence, teleporting is useless!). And with my back against the tree, my options of escaping (martial-arts-wise) without injuring Zatanna were…well, none. _Shit._

"Get off 'er, Zatanna." Thank god, the Boy Wonder made himself known at that moment, dropping down behind the magician and wrenching her hand from my arm. He immediately placed himself between the magician and I, which at this point I really didn't care that I was being unnecessarily protected; I could feel my arm bruising and my knees shaking.

"Oh! Robin!" Zatanna's tone changed to sickly sweet in an instant. It made my stomach churn.

_Stupid bitchy…_ I made myself stop thinking about that, I didn't wanna see where my train of thought was going.

"Oh, come _off_ it, dude. Admit it; you're disturbed, heavy on the _dis._" He shot back. I just watched the exchange with wide eyes.

"Hey, Rob! What's goin' on?" Artemis stalked over, bow in her hand. She had an arrow notched on the loose string, and I knew right away that she had guessed what was going on.

"Nothing, Artemis." Zatanna said quickly before marching towards the tents. I followed the magician's path with my eyes, and the tension in my gut ebbed a little.

Once Zatanna was safely on the other side of the clearing, Artemis repeated her question: "What just happened?"

"Zatanna just –"

"Had a conversation with me." I cut Rob off before he could finish the sentence.

_What are you doing? _His eyes seemed to ask me. I gave him a look.

_I don't wanna corrupt this trip by having Artemis go after Zatanna._ I thought, hoping that it would be portrayed in my expression. He sighed in response, but didn't try to continue our silent conversation, so that meant that I won.

That made it…7 for me; 26 for Dick.

...Yeah, I was _extraordinarily _bad at winning silent arguments. I was better at the verbal ones.

"Oh-kay…I'm going to pretend to believe that. Lunch is ready. Have you seen Kid Idiot?" Artemis countered, smoothly changing the subject.

"N-no. Why?" I stuttered, just as Robin shouted next to me: "Roy!"

"Great." I heard Artemis mutter as the Boy Wonder rushed past us to greet the other archer.

"Hey, Rob." I heard Roy say, and everyone instantly crowded around the older boy. Everyone, that is, except myself, Artemis, and Wally – wherever he went.

"God, where _is_ that idiot?" Artemis threw her hands in the air and looked around. I sighed.

"Which way did he go." It wasn't a question. Artemis was more worried about KF than she was worried about what just went down with Zatanna. Plus, she only made one comment about Red Arrow being here now.

She was _really _worried about the speedster.

"That way." She pointed towards the other side of our camp, and I grabbed her hand.

"Then let's go find him." I said, teleporting across the clearing with a _pop_. Artemis automatically found Wally's tracks and followed them, nose to the ground. I, on the other hand, let my eyes wander as I followed the female archer. The trees here had gained there leaves already, and the midday sun was breaking through them in yellow flecks, decorating the forest with delicate patterns. It was quiet and peaceful. I had no idea why Artemis was so worried.

Then I thought of Dick disappearing.

…Yeah, I get that she's worried.

"Shouldn't we have told the others where we were going?" I asked suddenly. Artemis barked a laugh.

"_Please_, Renee. We didn't need to." She responded without looking back at me, which made me more confused. I was missing something.

"Why not?" I asked, suddenly timid. Artemis stopped.

"Because Robin _always_ knows where you are. It's really sweet how he's so protective. And if he's away doing something with Batman, Wally steps up and makes sure that nothing happens to you. I don't think Rob even asked him to do it…You didn't really think that he wasn't _just_ as attentive to you as you are to him, did you?" Artemis raised an eyebrow.

"Of course not! I just thought, with his excitement about Roy…" I trailed off. Yeah, I had known that Dick kept tabs to make sure nothing happened to me, because I did the same thing. It was one of the very first things that we learned via my brother – keep an eye out for those you care about. But I didn't think that he was _that_ protective…not that I minded.

Because I didn't mind at all.

"No, Rob knows where we went. Now come on, let's find Baywatch before everyone else eats all the food." Artemis spun on her heel and continued her task of tracking. Not that she needed to be so thorough, I could see his path clear as day.

_But she's paranoid and worried._ I reminded myself as I trailed behind her. I tugged at the hem of my purple tank top, a habit that I had picked up from Logan. I felt a slight pain in my chest as I thought of him. It was still there, after three years, but it had subsided since my return to Gotham and the League. It scared me, just a little, that it wasn't as strong. But I didn't take it as a sign of my forgetting my brother, but rather that being around my extended family – both new and old – was helping me heal the hole losing Logan had left in my heart.

Dick was a big part of that.

I didn't have nightmares about it half as often as I used to because of him. And I was pretty sure he didn't even know I had nightmares. He made my life so much better, just _being there_, than he would ever know. I had a gut feeling that Wally and Artemis were helping each other in the same fashion. Whether or not either of them realized it, who knew.

_If Zatanna took him away from me, like she threatens to do… _I wouldn't let myself finish the thought. _It won't happen. I won't let it. Dick won't let it. Artemis and Wally and the others won't let it, either, if it comes to that. _

"Wally!" Artemis suddenly screeched, and I snapped out of my thoughts. There, dangling upside-down from a tree, was Kid Flash. He must have been there for a while, because his face was as red as his hair, and it looked like he was struggling to keep consciousness.

"Arty?" I heard him murmur as I teleported to where the rope holding him captive was tied.

"I got the rope!" I shouted over my shoulder to Artemis as I pulled out the stake that was keeping the contraption secure. I heard a dull thud that was Wally falling into Artemis' arms. I teleported back over as she sat him down gingerly onto the forest floor.

"What _happened_, Wally?" Artemis asked, her scratchy voice filled with concern. I untied the rope from around the speedster's ankles.

"Was running…didn't see it…must be some sorta animal trap." The red-head managed to say as the color of his face gradually returned to normal.

"Bloody hunters. Can you walk?" I said, squatting on my heels in front of the couple.

"I think so." He replied, but before he could try getting up, I laid a hand on his arm.

"Camp isn't far away. I can teleport you both back." I looked him, and his green eyes told me everything I needed to know.

"Take my hand." I instructed him as Artemis asked me: "You can take both of us?"

"Yeah, you two are light. No problem." Wally took my left hand as Artemis took my right, and I imagined the edge of the clearing where the speedster's footprints had started.

"Don't think I'll ever get used to that." Artemis muttered once we had arrived. Wally and I laughed.

"What?" She accused us, which just made him laugh harder.

"Oh, come _on._" She hauled Wally up onto his still-unsteady feet and wrapped his arm around her shoulders so her boyfriend could lean on her.

"Wally? Artemis? Renee?" Roy's naturally commanding voice drifted towards us. I turned around to look at them. Everyone was sitting around a long, wooden table, plates still being piled high with food by Megan.

"Went to look for our resident speedster. Turns out that Kid Idiot here got himself caught in some sort of trap. He's okay now." I addressed the whole group as the three of us made our way towards the table. Wally sat down between Roy and Artemis, and Rob scooted over to make room for me.

"Dude, that was the worst head rush _ever_." Wally moaned, making us laugh.

"Nothing that a little food can't fix, KF?" Robin asked as Roy piled food onto a plate for the speedster. He immediately dug in with his free hand (the other being intertwined with Artemis').

I took Robin's left hand with my right and tugged on it. The ebony-haired boy leaned his head down slightly so that I could talk into his ear.

"Archer sandwich." I muttered, and I saw his eyes flick across the table behind his dark glasses. Sure enough, Wally was smack-dab in between the two archers. He let out a low chuckle before squeezing my hand and turning back to me.

"Don't worry. Zatanna won't dare do anything with the rest of the team around. Stay traught." He assured me, reading right through my light-hearted disguise. I nodded and leaned my head against his shoulder.

I tuned back into the conversations around me, laughing at all the right times while still leaning against Dick. But my mind still kept wandering to the one chilling question that hadn't left my mind all day:

_When will Zatanna strike?_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Yay! <strong>_

_**So, I'm sorry, I know that hunters don't typically use rope traps, but if I had used a metal one, KF would've gotten hurt and had to go home, and I want to stick with the camping trip for as long as I can. I'm having so much fun writing it. **_

_**Also, I got back from my trip late Tuesday (it was so much fun!) but when I went to type this up yesterday to post it, I realized how sleep-deprived I had gotten on the bus ride when I was writing it, and wound up having to re-write the entire second half. Haha.**_

_**So, like, review if you wanna. They make me very happy.**_

_**Word Counts:  
>This Chapter: 2,094<br>Total: 7,705**_

_**Stay Awesome and Happy Writings,  
><strong>__**Vid.**_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Thank you for your patience.**_

_**A/N: **_

_**~~WARNING: this author's note contains a spoiler for "Performance".**_

_**Just thought you outta know. **_

_**So, as you may have watched "Performance", I discovered that Wally knows. Ironically enough, I was planning on having Wally find out during the little bonding trip. But since apparently the speedster already knows, we're going to pretend that Dick told him in that three-month gap that I wrote in between the end of Nightshadow and the beginning of Breaking Light. **_

_**Okay? Okay. **_

_**Hoorays!**_

_**~~Another WARNING (please read): towards the end of the chapter there's some stuff suggested by Roy that makes the chapter fall into the "T" category (in my opinion). He doesn't actually **__**say**__** it, but it's implied. I apologize if that makes you uncomfortable, no one actually **__**does**__** anything, but I was just like, "I'm writing this, and they're teenagers, and they haven't even **__**mentioned**__** this yet? I must put it in…"**_

_**After that spiel, on to the story.**_

* * *

><p><span>Breaking Light: Chapter 5:<span>  
>~Kid Flash's POV~<p>

"_When Samuel replied, he sounded, for the first time, genuinely amused. 'Isn't there always a girl'."  
>–Cassandra Clare, <em>_City of Glass_

I was concerned.

I knew that Robin (who my thoughts have already adjusted themselves to calling Dick) and Renee were hiding _something._ Something about Zatanna. But I didn't know what. But judging from their silent conversations, it was bad.

But if Dick wasn't going to say anything, then I wasn't gonna push it. And I wasn't going to eavesdrop, either. Not after last time. Besides, I had other things to worry about.

Like how the _hell_ was I going to get my girlfriend to get along with one of my best friends?

I didn't understand why Arty hated Roy so much. Roy was a nice…enough…guy. He means well, even if he basically went vigilante on the League. And spilled some secrets like the Watchtower to us. And I'm still not sure what's going on with him and Cheshire. It's really shady.

…Now that I think about it, anyone that _hasn't _known Roy as long as I have (aka Artemis) would not like him too much.

"Baywatch! Roy and I are doing target practice, 'kay?" Artemis snapped me out of my train of thought.

"You and – um, okay. I'm going to pretend that you two didn't hate each other for the longest time and act like this behavior is normal. Have fun." I waved awkwardly as they headed off, and ignored the little green flame of jealously that flared it the pit of my stomach.

Why would I be jealous? Roy wouldn't take her away from me.

"Rob!" I exclaimed suddenly as the Boy Wonder walked past (for once not attached to his Shadow girlfriend). He turned his head towards me quickly, with only minimal shock etched across his face.

Damn his superior observance skills.

Makes it incredibly hard to prank him…not that I'd need to, he's always in on any and all pranks that happen.

"Yeah, KF?" He strode towards me, rolling up the sleeves of his dark jacket as he walked.

"Wanna game?" I asked with a not-so-discreet smirk. Dick's eyebrows shot up.

"What? You afraid I'm gonna beat you?" I teased, which immediately did the trick. Robin scowled.

"No!" He exclaimed, but I could tell he was still hesitant.

"Then what is it?" I stood up so I was now looking down into his dark glasses.

"You brought a TV and an entire gaming system into the woods." It was more of a statement than a question.

"Hey, you never know when you need to blast some zombies!" I defended mock-serious, which made the Boy Wonder laugh.

"How are you getting the power?" He asked, incredulous. I sped over to an unopened box and practically ripped off the lid.

"Easy, generator. Now help me set this up!" I gestured wildly to the box. The Bird helped me pull everything out and hook it up, a smirk on his face the entire time.

We were blasting zombies to bits not even ten minutes later.

"You jealous of Roy?" Robin suddenly asked, catching me off guard. I almost blew my virtual self up in surprise.

"_What_?" There was a silence in which it seemed like Dick hadn't even heard me he was so enraptured by the game.

"She doesn't hate him anymore." He finally said, then hollered in excitement as we beat the area we were in.

"Why would that make me jealous?" I purposely put as much of a nonchalant tone as I could in my words.

Apparently, it was still – as Rob would put it – _chalant_.

"C'mon, Wally. It's obvious."

Well, shit.

"It is?" Dick raised an eyebrow at me behind his glasses while somehow keeping his attention on the TV in front of us.

"Don't worry, though. She's only got eyes for you." The younger boy said it with an air of finality that, if more stoic, would have rivaled Batman.

I opened my mouth to come back with a response when Renee appeared with a _**Pop**_.

"Hey boys! Slaying zombies. The outdoors is doing wonders for you two." She purposely smirked at me before plopping down beside Robin. He instantly – almost unconsciously – moved to accommodate her, wrapping an arm around her before returning that hand to the control so she was trapped in his arms as he played.

"Wally's idea." He said, and I frowned, wrinkling my nose.

"Hey! Way to throw me under the bus, Rob." I almost-whined, which made Renee laugh. I smiled my dazzling smile at her. She laughed harder.

What was so funny about my grin?

"It's alright, Wally. We all know that you would do the same to him. He's just returning the favor." Renee said sweetly. I couldn't decide whether to laugh along with the lovebirds (ha-ha, punny) or be offended. I chose the latter.

"I'm offended. What did I ever do to deserve this cruelty?" Renee batted her eyelashes at me.

"Sorry, KF. Just having a bit of fun…unforch, it's at your expense."

"Apology accepted." The three of us lapsed into a comfortable silence for a while. The next time someone spoke, the sun was sinking behind the trees.

"Guess we should set up the tents." Robin broke the silence and paused our game. I recognized the flash of panic show in Renee's eyes.

"How are we going to divide up?" I asked for her, and she sent me a relieved 'thank-you' glance.

"One for Artemis, M'gann, and Zatanna; a second for Wally, Roy, Conner, and myself; a third for Renee and Robin, since Zatanna is so determined to not share sleeping quarters with her." It was Kaldur who answered my question, standing up from his place in a chair and coming over to us. I had completely forgotten about him, to be honest.

It was kind of embarrassing.

"Good idea." Robin agreed, nodding. He still had a hand on Renee's small waist. I felt the green flame flare up again, but quickly squashed it.

_Now, now, can't have any of that, Wally. Don't be jealous of Dick. He's your best friend. So what if Artemis and I never have those moments like him and Renee? _I scowled at myself and moved to help them set up the tents.

Soon enough, Conner and Megan appeared from wherever they had been and started to help. Zatanna slunk back into our clearing a few minutes later. By the time Arty and Roy had come back from their target practice, the twilight hour was almost over. The tents got put up and our bags had been deposited into the correct tents.

"Are we sure we should let those two have a tent to themselves?" Roy whispered to me once he and I were in our tent, laying out our sleeping bags. I looked out the 'window' to see who he was talking about (although I already knew). Robin was chasing Renee in a circle around their tent, and she was hugging something close to her chest. They were both smiling and laughing.

"Why wouldn't we let them have a tent to themselves? Renee wouldn't want to sleep alone." I responded, watching my best friend as he caught his girl around the waist and spun her around. It was nice to know that he had found someone as small as he was.

"Well, they could…you know…" I snapped my head around to look at RA.

"Gross, man! They would never do that!" I cried in disgust, staring at him open-mouthed.

"Sorry, sorry! It was just a thought!" He held up his hands in a gesture of surrender.

"Oh, god, Roy…that's just…gross. No. They most certainly wouldn't do that. I know for a fact that Rob –"

"Alright, I get it, I'm sorry. Forget I said anything." Roy cut me off, and I snapped my mouth shut.

"I'm gonna say g'night to Arty." I muttered and climbed out of the tent.

_Just clear your mind of Roy's inappropriate thoughts. Clear your mind._ I chanted to myself as I walked over to where the other archer was standing in front of the girl's tent.

"Hey there." She smiled, entwining her fingers with mine.

"Hey yourself." I smiled back. "Just wanted to say good night."

She laughed, "Good-night, Baywatch."

I chuckled.

"Good-night, Arty."

Then my lips found hers.

And all was well in Wally-world.

* * *

><p><em><strong>The end!<strong>_

_**Sorta just a filler, and there's fluff, and I made Roy imply explicit activities while talking to Wally about 13-year-olds, I know, I know, **_

_**I'm sorry!**_

_**But realistically, I'm surprised I didn't put it in earlier. They're **__**teenagers**__**, I dunno about you, but I'm one and all my friends always assume that kinda stuff when people are dating, so why can't they think stuff, too. **_

**_My new collab with Synk, "Darkness", is now up! Check it out, please! _**

_**~~UPDATED Note: I have now seen everything up-to-date and I am upset. I love the bringing in more people, but Robin has, in my heart, always been Dick Grayson. And so, I regret to inform you, in this story (and any other Renee stories), he will stay Robin. I apologize. It **__**is **__**a bit AU. But I can't help it. I'm not going to re-create scenes that everyone already knows and loves. Plus, I'm not a big fan of Tim Drake. So there.**_

_**Anyway, enough of my ranting.**_

_**Word Counts: **__**  
>This chapter: 1,395<br>Total: 9,100**_

_**SAHW,  
>Vid.<strong>_


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N:**_

_**Hello Fanfiction community! **_

_**I am on a total roll this week! Sooo happy with this chapter.**_

_**Hope you like it!**_

_**Also, I would like to warn you, I went a little crazy with stressing certain words towards the end of the chapter. I was just having too much fun writing, I guess. :D**_

_**Without further ado, here it is!**_

* * *

><p><span>Breaking Light: Chapter Six:<span>  
>~Renee's POV~<p>

"_To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all."  
><em>― _Oscar Wilde_

I had fallen asleep with Dick Grayson's arm draped across my middle and his body radiating heat next to mine.

I woke up cold.

"Rob?" I whispered harshly. No answer.

I looked around. No note. But no shoes, either… (Except for mine, of course)

Bathroom?

I had come to that conclusion – albeit uneasily – and was about to curl up again when I saw something thin and yellow out of the corner of my eye.

Robin's utility belt.

"Holy shit. Holy shit holy – okay, stay calm. Stay calm!" I shout-whispered, trying to calm my now racing heart.

Robin didn't go _anywhere_ without his belt. Hell, _Dick Grayson_ hardly went anywhere without it. The realization hit me like a ton of bricks.

Zatanna.

Had.

_Struck._

"_Because I'm going to __take__ him from you. __Right out from under your nose__." _

I bolted out of my sleeping bag and changed into my suit in speeds that could have rivaled KF. Her wild threat hovered in the back of my mind. I was halfway out the hole that served as a door before I doubled back and grabbed the Bird's belt, hiding it under my cape. If I was to find the Boy Wonder, I might need it.

It didn't take me long to figure out which tent housed the boys. All I had to do was listen for the snoring.

Practically sprinting towards the mesh window, I didn't even bother trying to wake KF. I saw a small spot on the nylon tent floor that _wasn't_ covered with sleeping males and teleported inside.

"Wally, _Wally_, wake up!" I said as loud as I dared in the direction of the two red-headed men. Wally shifted in his canary yellow bag with a muttered, 'Not now, mom'. Roy, however, was awake instantly?

"Renee? What are you _doing_…what's wrong?" He asked, eyeing me with concern. I must've looked like I had seen my father's ghost.

"Can you wake up Wally?" I avoided his question altogether. Roy, I had observed, was a sort of a hot-head, and although he could help, I was wary of his reaction.

Roy nodded, then reached over and hit Wally.  
>"Ow!"<br>"Shhhh!"  
>"<em>What<em> could be so _important_ that you had to wake me from the _glorious_ dream, Roy?"

"_Wally_!" I interrupted Roy's half-formed retort. The speedster's emerald gaze snapped onto me.

I slowly pulled out Robin's belt.

Both men's jaws dropped.

"Is that –?"

"That's Robin's belt –"

"He's gone." I looked Wally in the eye, "Zatanna."

Wally's eyes became saucers. Roy glanced back in forth between us.

"Am I missing something?" He asked, fists clenched.

"Zatanna hates Renee because she's with Rob…" Wally started.

"…And she threatened she'd steal him away, and I quote, 'Right out from under my nose'." I finished, taking a slightly shaky breath. I replaced Rob's belt to where I had stored it under my cape slowly, in an effort to calm my emotions.

Because truthfully, I was _terrified_.

But the two older boys in front of me didn't need to know that any more than they already did. My eyes widened as Roy threw his sleeping bag off him and reached for his bow.

Wally and I stared at him.

"What? You need to find him, don't you? Well, it's a big forest; you'll need all the help you can get." He stood up, shoulders hunched so he didn't hit the roof.

"That's code for we need to get _going_." He reiterated when neither the speedster nor I moved.

"Wait – you're coming?" Wally asked. I resisted the urge to hit him. At this point, he was _wasting time._

"Wally, I don't _care_ who's coming, as long as I can punch Zatanna's face in." I told the redheads honestly before teleporting out. They climbed out a few minutes later, suits and masks on.

"Let's go." Roy stated, instantly taking point.

"Whoa-hoa-hoa. _My_ boyfriend, _I'm_ the leader." I said sternly, brushing past the older boy.

Roy opened his mouth, as if to say something, but seemed to think better of it and snapped it shut. The boys trailed behind me like dogs for a little bit after that. Serves them right.

We had been silently travelling through the dank forest for what seemed at the time as forever (but was probably only like, fifteen minutes tops) when I heard a crack to my right.

"Guys."  
>A grunt from Roy.<br>A snap on the other side.  
>A yellow blur.<br>"Kid Flash!" The speedster skidded to a stop in front of me.

"What?" He batted his eyelashes innocently, "I was just checking for traps."

"Oh, because that worked _so _well last time." Roy shot at him. I rolled my eyes. Wally started arguing back.

"Let's just split up, guys. Covers more ground." I suggested in a murmur before walking off, leaving the two red-heads bickering behind me over – of all things – Wally's dignity. Once a safe distance away, I started teleporting through the thick underbrush.

_**Smack**_**!**

I felt myself being thrown backwards and colliding with a large tree. My vision went black for a moment as I slid down the trunk.

"Damn." I swore under my breath as I blinked painfully, only to be met with Zatanna's (extremely pissed) face.

"I told you so." She growled, her eyes flashing that peculiar red once again. Warning flags started waving like mad men in my mind. I teleported before she had a chance to hit me with a spell again, heading in the same way I had been going before. It was easy teleporting through the dark forest; the entire place looked the same. All I had to do was imagine the same dark trees and overrun bushes, only three miles away.

I leaned against the nearest tree, rubbing my head and trying to balance myself before Zatanna came. I figured I had a few minutes, at least, considering I had just teleported three miles away from the spot of our altercation.

Boy, was I wrong.

For mere moments later, to my utter surprise, the magician appeared in front of me.

"Thought you were the only one who could teleport, didn't you, _Nightshadow?_" She said my name like it was venom in her mouth. I disappeared with the familiar _pop_ as the black panic filled my gut.

I didn't go quite as far as I would have liked in my panic. A few seconds later, after I heard a muttered spell, Zatanna was there again. She stared me down, not moving an inch.

_C'mon, Renee, Dick _needs_ you. Speed's on your side. Think fast – just do what you do best –_ Think. Fast. _She hasn't done anything yet. Just think fast._ So, I thought fast.

And by thinking fast, I meant that I just teleported quickly up into the trees above Zatanna to watch her and look for an opening. Effectively giving me more time.

Thankfully, Zatanna's teleportation spell wasn't one to lock onto a target, for I watched her port farther in the direction I had been going. That gave me only a couple minutes (at best) before she realized I had changed my pattern. A few minutes before she actually started _looking_ for me in the eerie, moonlit forest.

_Find Dick before she finds you. That's your plan. _Logan's voice echoed a little in my head. I knew it was just a figment of my imagination that part of my conscious had taken over Logan's voice, but it brought me comfort all the same.

_That's my plan._ I agreed.

_Simple, but effective. Go. _Logan's voice urged me on, before fading away until I was alone in my thoughts once again. I decided that I regretted splitting up from the two annoying gingers.

Reminding myself of a monkey, I teleported through the treetops, borderline-desperately searching the ground for Dick's recognizable dark-haired form.

_There!_ I thought triumphantly, almost crying out in relief when I saw him slumped against the tree. The branch underneath me creaked. Silently swearing, I watched as Dick looked at me from behind his glasses. This calmed me for two reasons:

One, Zatanna hadn't seen his eyes so she didn't know his identity.

Two, that meant I was at the perfect angle so that he didn't have to make obvious movements of his head to see me. And I could see his eyes glinting in the light of the pale moon.

Dick stared at me, his blue eyes boring into mine.

'_Are you okay?' _I asked him silently.

'_Yes.' _He responded. For a second, I marveled in the fact that we could communicate through eye contact.

'_Zatanna.'_ Robin's eyes seemed to say before I could respond. Sure enough, the obsidian-haired magician stepped out of the shadows in front of Dick, skinny arms folded over her chest. Her voice floated up towards me.

"_Please_, Robin. I know she's here. Just _tell_ me, and I won't hurt her." Zatanna crooned, her voice silky.

"We both know _that's _a lie. Not asterous, Z." Robin spat. Zatanna flipped her hair over her shoulder. A glint of metallic silver flashed in the dim light. The moon was sinking to tree-level in the west.

_Make her do that again_. I thought with all my might, urgently hoping the Bird would see, would understand.

"Got a bug in your hair, Zatanna." I heard the smirk in Robin's voice, but _she_ obviously didn't. Instead, she squeaked and started shaking her hair, fingers running through it as she went.

_What is _that_? _The silver glinted again. A flashing, red dot on it – on the base of her neck.

_A chip._ The new information let all the other pieces fall into place – _that _was why Zatanna was doing all this. _That_ was why she hated me. Because _she_ didn't.

Before I could plan out my next move, I had moved, standing inches away from the magician's back. Reaching out, my hand was there, _right there_ – when of _course_ Zatanna turned around. So I did the only thing I could think of.

I punched her in the face.

Hey, at least I couldn't say later that I _didn't _get my wish.

I teleported to Robin and undid the bonds on his wrists and ankles as Zatanna sat on the ground, dazed. His bonds were surprisingly loose.

"Magic. Loosened when you punched her. Nice hit, by the way." Dick said simply after catching my confused expression. I smiled.

"Chip." I replied, and he nodded.

**"NO!"** Zatanna screeched and threw her hands in front of her with a spell. I latched onto Robin and teleported us across the small clearing I had found him in.

"Why did no one tell me she could teleport?" I asked in the space of time it took the magician to join us.

"Didn't come up. Do you have my belt?" I unhooked it from under my carpe and quickly passed it to him. He gave me a small, crooked smile in thanks.

"I knew you'd know what happened." He murmured, a hint of pride in his voice. Oh, how much I wanted to kiss him –

Cue angry maybe-Zatanna.

**"RRAWWWRRR!"** Zatanna screamed incoherently, eyes flashing red, before lunging at me. I ported out of the way as she sailed past Robin. He clutched her shoulder and purposely went down with her. Faster than I could follow, Rob had ripped off the chip and was standing next to me once again.

"Z?" He cautiously asked as Zatanna slowly flipped herself over onto her back.

"Rob?" She asked tentatively, holding her head with one hand while simultaneously pushing herself up with the other. Something about her voice seemed…softer. Dick nodded and pulled out a wire in the tiny metal chip. The red light went out. I took hold of his hand immediately after he had stored the now-dead technology in his belt.

The magician's eyes locked on our intertwined fingers, then landed on my face.

"Who are you?" She asked. My eyebrows shot up.

"Renee. You mean – you don't remember who I am?" I exchanged a half-excited, half-scared look with Dick when she shook her head.

"Woah. What we miss?" Wally and Roy had taken that moment to arrive.

"Zatanna had some sort of brainwashing chip on her. She doesn't remember the last three months, now that we've taken it off. Doesn't remember Renee at all." Robin quickly filled the red-heads in.

"Doesn't remember Nightshadow? Wow…" Wally trailed off.

"Nightsha-no, I _do_ know you! I remember things…in-costume things. But there's these giant…blank spots." Zatanna stood on shaky feet. Roy, in a sudden gentlemanly act, wrapped an arm around her to steady her.

"So…you don't remember hating Renee's guts at _all_ because she's dating Rob?" Wally asked bluntly. I pinched the bridge of my nose.

Zatanna shook her head no.

_No. So half of what went on these past three months was a lie. _I tried to wrap my head around the concept as Rob and I followed the trail Roy and Wally had created on their way to us.

"Zatanna doesn't hate me." I finally whispered. Dick pressed his lips softly against my temple.

"No. No, she doesn't. She never did. Think of it as a clean slate. Literally." He responded, and we walked hand-in-hand back to camp in silence.

The sun was just peaking out through the trees, casting a dim, white light over our clearing. To our surprise, everyone was already up.

"Zatanna was brainwashed! She doesn't hate Renee!" Wally shouted as soon as we were in earshot of our remaining four teammates, who were all gathered around the picnic table.

Everyone swarmed Rob and I at once, even Zatanna, who kept apologizing profusely. I waved off her apologies.

Maybe I was paranoid, but none of her apologies sounded all that sincere.

"Guys, guys, I know that Zatanna's back to her good old self, and everything's great, but can I go get a few more hours of sleep?" The Boy Wonder finally cut through all the excited chatter. I wasn't at all surprised when everyone parted to let him through.

I was surprised, however, when Dick refused to let go of my hand, and instead led me back to our tent.

"You need sleep, I don't." I said quietly once we were safely inside and the talking had started up again across the clearing.

"I know…but I just…" Rob trailed off, rubbing the back of his neck.

"You just?"

"I just want you to stay like, here. With me. When she ambushed me, when you were sleeping – she took me into the forest, magically tied me up, and left. I was so…so _scared_ that she was going to do something to you. Then she showed up again and started demanding how I had contacted her, how you were coming with KF and Speedy…I love you, Renee…" He broke off again, and instantly I told him that I loved him as well, and I flung myself into his arms, burying my face into his shoulder.

For Robin – for _Dick _to admit that moment of weakness to me, it meant the entire world to me.

Because it meant he trusted me.

And if I had ever learned anything from my brother, it was that trust was more important than anything.

"_When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth." _

― _Jess C. Scott, __1: The Intern_

* * *

><p><em><strong>Ta-da!<strong>_

_**Some major fluff at the end…**_

_**For those of you disappointed in no more bitchy Zatanna, don't worry. She's still going to be bitchy. Just…no longer a psychopath…for now (laughs evilly). You never know! Lol. **_

_**Anyway, I know there are two quotes this chapter, but I thought that the one at the end was just so lovely that I couldn't leave it out of this chapter. **_

_**Also, I know there really wasn't much of a 'fight' in this chapter, but I felt like neither Renee nor Rob would actually want to FIGHT Zatanna. So, yeah.**_

_**Review if you want. **_

_**~~~ALSO, a little bit of advertisement: if you haven't already, and you have time, go look at my new YJ collab story with Synk, it's called **__**Darkness**__**. I'm really proud of it, so far. So check that out. And review that, too. Reviews give great ideas! **_

_**Thanks!**_

_**Word Count:  
><strong>__**This chapter: 2,582  
><strong>__**Total: 11,682**_

_**SAHW,  
><strong>__**Vid.**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**Hi there!**_

_**This chapter took a while, and I was really swamped, but here you go!**_

_**Please enjoy, and sorry for the delay!**_

_**Also, meesa has tumblr! I update what i'm doing, you can ask questions, etc.  
>Link is: vid - silverbane . tumblr .com (remove spaces.)<br>I also reblog stuff from the Mortal Instruments, the Avengers (because seriously, who isn't? lol. xD), and other nerdy things, if you're into that kinda stuff.**_

* * *

><p><span>Breaking Light: Chapter Seven:<span>  
>~Renee's POV~<p>

"_People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be."  
>― Abraham Lincoln<em>

It was odd, being on friendly, speaking terms with Zatanna, when we both well knew she was supposed to hate me.

It was almost as if we were in the Eye of a Hurricane - the worst had past, but the calm will only last so long.

I felt like I was just playing a twisted version of the 'waiting game', in which I didn't know when the forced serenity would shatter into a million pieces and let the storm in again.

I hadn't told Rob yet about the mounting tension that no one seemed to notice except me. We all had a lot of shit on our plates.

It had been two weeks since the camping trip. The rest of the trip was spent peacefully – fishing, training, and just hanging out. Oh, and did I mention re-meeting Zatanna? Well, yeah. That too.

But after we were picked up from the middle of nowhere, it's been a non-stop schedule of school, mission, sleep for a few hours, repeat. And now it was Friday night again, and I had invited the entire team to my Gotham home to just get a break from it all, for everything going on tonight was "League Business".

For once, I was happy they were keeping us out.

So, everyone was collapsed in my living room as I cooked the beef for tacos. Dick was sprawled out on my tan loveseat, his feet propped up on my coffee table; Kaldur, Roy, and Zatanna spaced themselves out evenly on the matching couch. Wally had claimed the dark brown recliner that was sitting in the corner as his own ("Prime TV viewing spot, and it's got the gaming controllers in a basket right next to it. It's as if you read my mind, Knight!"). Artemis had plopped down ungracefully right next to the speedster, which was fine by him, because the chair had enough room for both of them. M'gann and Conner, who had been the last to arrive, were sitting on my pile of brightly colored floor cushions. There was an Indiana Jones marathon playing on USA, but no one was really listening to the television. I looked on from my prime spot in the kitchen, marveling at how _natural_ the situation looked – even with Zatanna there.

I sat the pan on a cooling rack and pulled a big wooden spoon out, helping myself to my taco before the torrent of my hungry friends came and ate it all.

"Dinners ready! And Wally gets his plate last!" I half-shouted, and was greeted with a chorus of, "Yay!" and one exasperated groan.

As everyone got in line at the kitchen's island to make their tacos, I walked to the back of the line to keep the red-head company.

"Why'd you have to say that?" He whined, giving his best puppy-dog eyes.

"Please, Wally, there wouldn't be food for anyone else if we didn't make you get your food last." I said teasingly, elbowing him lightly.

"I know, but still…" He groaned again.

"Cry Baby Soup." I told him, patting his arm as I made my way to the living room. Everyone else (besides Wally) had already sat down by the time I had finished bugging Wally.

"You're a good cook!" M'gann exclaimed with glee after a moment of silence other than the crunching of taco shells and the Scottish quips of Sean Connery.

"Thanks, I can only make easy stuff, though." I gave her a small smile as I set my plate down on the coffee table and leaned into my boyfriend. Dick, who had finished his food almost as fast as Wally (who had sped over with his plate already empty, as expected), wrapped his arm around me and pulled me into him.

Just like always, he held me tight, like I could disappear at any moment; I didn't mind that analogy, in fact, just thinking about it made my thoughts fuzzy with happiness. Cheezy, I know, but it's the truth.

Honestly, Rob, Roy, Wally, and I were still trying to push past the fear that had gripped us – Rob and I especially – that night in the woods. The fact that Dick still held on like that, that he didn't run away (like I thought he would after the whole psycho-bitch-Zatanna episode) made me immensely relieved. But we were all still a little wary – of Zatanna, of what could happen, of what _did_ happen.

"Renee? Are you listening?" Dick's slightly teasing tone broke me out of my thoughts.

"Hmm? No, sorry. Repeat?" I asked, looking up at his dark glasses. I always imagined his brilliant blue eyes there instead.

"Wally asked if there would be dessert." I glanced over at the boy in question, who was looking at me like a lost puppy.

"For you, Wallace, there will always be dessert. Let me see what I have." I got up and was about to walk back into the kitchen (for I had bought a cake and hid it earlier), when the doorbell rang.

Roy, who was seated closest to the front of the house, made to rise and get the door, but I stopped him.

"No, no. My house, I'm already up, I'll get it." I ran a hand through my hair as the doorbell rang again.

"I'm coming, I'm coming! No need to be annoying." I huffed before unlocking the door.

Standing on the other side were two men dressed in pristine black suits. One was small, with thin blond hair pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of his neck, and held an attaché. The other was tall and broad-shouldered, with darker skin and a shaved head. If he hadn't been holding a crocodile-skin briefcase, I would've sworn up and down he was The Rock.

"Miss Renee Knight?" Attaché-guy asked, looking down on me with a slight frown on his face.

"That's me." I felt a warm hand on the small of my back.

"And you are?" Dick asked cautiously. Attaché-guy spoke again,

"My name is Tom Woolpat; this is my associate, Yasmin Bleeth. We are –"

"Woolpat, Gooms, and Bleeth. You're my brother's lawyers." I cut in. This time, Bleeth responded.

"Yes. Although now it's Woolpat, McMurphy, and Bleeth."

"Yes, Gooms moved to Venezuela, so my brother-in-law took his place last year."

"That's all good and great, Mr. Woolpat, but what are you doing here?" Dick asked calmly, but I could tell he was not happy at all with my brother's old friends and lawyers showing up at my door so long after he…passed.

Woolpat shifted from one foot to another, his gaze flickering to somewhere behind me. Glancing back, I saw that everyone else had gathered at the end of the hall, with a range of curiosity/concern etched onto their faces.

"Well, I believe it would be best if we did not speak in your foyer, Miss Knight." Bleeth said as Woolpat nodded furiously in agreement. I suppressed a chuckle.

"Very well." I turned on my heel and led the way to the kitchen table.

"Is here suitable, Mr. Bleeth?" I asked innocently, although worry was beginning to claw at my gut.

"Yes." He handed his briefcase to Woolpat, who deftly opened it and pulled out a file.

"It seems that your brother had left a Will, Miss Knight." Woolpat's voice was pinched and reedy, a startling contrast to Bleeth's clear, deep tones.

"Why didn't you give Renee it before, then?" Dick asked. I saw Bleeth wrinkle his nose out of the corner of my eye.

_Idiot. Dick can ask questions. He knew Logan, too. _I thought, having to bite it back from my lips, in fear of getting on the bad side of a couple of lawyers.

"We did not have him on file for having a will. We are moving to a different building and I was packing up old files when I found it." I fought against laughing at my brother's friends. Why he insisted on using his friend's services as much as possible, I would never know. I knew that Woolpat, Bleeth, Gooms, and my brother were friends in high school but…their lack of organization and general non-lawyer-like auras was just too much.

"Well? What does it say?" I asked warily. I really didn't know what to think, how to handle the situation. The reading of my father's will was a blur; it was so soon after his funeral.

"Not much. Just to give you, Miss Renee Knight, this letter." Woolpat said as Bleeth handed me a white envelope with my brother's familiar, thin writing scrawled across the front.

"To Renee, with love." I read aloud. Bleeth slid a paper across the table for me to sign, a confirmation that I had received all the contents of the will and that I'm not missing anything, blah blah blah, that kind of stuff. I scribbled my signature on the dotted line and Bleeth quickly packed it up in the briefcase.

"Well, that's all we needed to give you." He said shortly, before showing himself out the door.

Woolpat lingered for a moment, his eyes trailing after Bleeth, before turning to me. He wasn't very tall – only about Robin's height – and was very mousy. I could remember him living across the street from our house and walking over every morning of my brother's senior year, even though I was really little at the time.

"Your brother was a good man. And he loved you a lot, even though you were like, thirteen years apart or something ridiculous like that. If you ever need anything, just give me a call, okay?" Woolpat looked at me with watery blue eyes.

"Okay, Mr. Woolpat, thank you." I said, and escorted him to the door.

"And please, call me Tom." He replied with a smile before climbing into a gray sedan that had "Woolpat, Bleeth, and McMurphy" printed on the side.

"Well, that was odd." Artemis deadpanned, and I burst out laughing.

"Those guys have always been weird. Woolpat used to be our neighbor, would carpool with my brother his senior year." I choked out. That got (at the very least) a smile from everyone in the room, before they went back to their spots in the living room (Artemis took the liberty of cutting the cake when I was showing Woolpat out).

I picked the letter up off the table and moved into the living room.

"Let's see what's in this letter." I muttered, barely suppressing my sudden excitement. After I gestured for him to do so, Dick stood up from his spot on the couch and moved so that he could read over my shoulder.

I ripped open the envelope and unfolded the letter, which read:

_Dear Renee,_

_If you're reading this, I'm dead._

_I'm sorry it had to be this way. But when we're heroes, it's the price we have to lay on the line, day after day._

_I'm going to assume that I haven't told you any of what you're about to read. Why? Because I never planned on tell you – you didn't (and still don't) need to know some of it, and the rest…well, it wouldn't be an issue because I wouldn't be dead. But now that I'm gone, you have the right to know, and I sort of want you to know, in a way._

_First and foremost, Clockwork is/was my ex-roommate. Yeah, this you probably already know, my dear sister, but knowing you, you're curious as to if I knew or not. Well, I did._

_I imagine that, now that I've gone, he's going to be after you. Or maybe you two have already gone toe-to-toe. I just hope that there was a big reveal, you know? A whole epic 'He was your friend! He __trusted__ you!' – type of HP-allusion shouting match. _

_Next, you should probably know that yes, I knew I was going to die. Last time good ol' Clockwork and I faced off, he swore he would kill me, if it was the last thing he did. I would like to believe he kept his word (for he has always been a man of his word). If not, I will re-write this letter, so you won't even see this; you'll see a new version of it. _

_It just goes to show you that anger will get you nowhere, sissy.  
>And sometimes, we give it all we got, but it isn't enough.<em>

…_Nothing's ever enough._

_I really hope you become part of the Justice League when you're older. I am, as I'm writing this, emailing the JL about it. (Yeah, who knew they had email that actually worked and wasn't for fanmail? Not I, said Logan)._

_They will be good for you, sis. I know they will._

…_Especially if I'm gone before I see you join them. (If that ever happens, they're procrastinating quite a bit on the front of choosing new members)._

_I'd like to know how, exactly, I die, so that I can just, you know, be prepared. I'd like to think I died a hero's death, so you'll be proud of me._

_God knows I've always been proud of you. _

_You know, when you first got your powers, I was terrified. I didn't want you to be a Superhero like me; I didn't want you to go through the sleepless nights, the hours of training, the relentless fights. I didn't want you to have that responsibility on your shoulders._

_I couldn't be happier that you convinced me otherwise. I've gotten the amazing experience of working with my sister while doing the thing I love to do, not to mention I've gotten to watch you learn and grow. You're a strong, independent girl for your age. Mature and clever as hell, too. Don't lose that._

_If I don't make it out of this lifestyle alive, I am confident you won't need me – or anyone, for that matter – to get out, or whatever. You'll be able to live your life however the hell you want, no matter if you have me there to help along the way. It's like mom used to say – you're one of those baby-blue flowers, beautiful, strong, and courageous._

_You've rarely needed my help, sis._

_I believe in you._

_Now, I probably should bring up the fact that you may – no, you're smart, you __will__ – have noticed that the only thing in my Will is this letter. That's because everything I "own" has been paid for by Dad._

_Yeah, that's right…  
>Your brother's a free-loader.<em>

_I'm upset at the thought that you had to find out this way, that I've been hypocritical for so long about kids living off of their parent's money after they've graduated and moved out. But the truth is, I never really wanted much, and it's hard to keep down a job when you're a Superhero (at least, it is in my opinion) so dad said he'd pay for whatever but only if, and I quote "You keep following your heart". Dad's a great guy, even though I know you two aren't always on the same page. Or reading the same book, for that matter._

_If I go before him, promise me you'll look after him, okay? And don't give him too much grief. He's a sixty-something divorcee with a crapload of money and a business to run, not to mention he still pays all of mom's medical bills and takes care of us. The old guy's got a lot on his plate._

_And sis, I'm so sorry I'm missing the rest of you growing up. But truthfully, I can feel, in the pit of my stomach, that the end is coming fast for me, even in the event that Clockwork doesn't keep his word. _

_I won't be able to teach you how to drive, I won't be there for you to graduate and get that fancy little diploma, I won't help you decide college courses, I can't move you into your own place or be only a call away to fix things when they break. I won't be there for your first heartbreak, or your fifth, or your tenth, or however many you go through until you find "the one". I won't get to see that shiny ring on your finger or dance with you in that pretty white dress on your wedding day. I won't get to be a godfather; your kids will never get the chance to meet "Uncle Logan". We can't grow old together and watch our grandchildren grow up while we live side-by-side in "Little blue houses with white picket fences" like you used to tell me at least once a week for the longest time. I can no longer laugh with you, or cry with you, or hold you when you're scared._

_But I'll be doing the only thing I can do – I'll watch over you every step of the way for the rest of your life, silently cheering you on, because I love you, and I'm your brother, and that's the only thing I can imagine myself doing up in Heaven (or wherever I am)._

_I miss you already, sis._

_Love,  
>Logan.<em>

By the time I had finished reading, I could barely keep back the tears that were welling up in my eyes. I set the paper down, slowly, carefully, onto the dark wood of the coffee table before turning around to face Dick. He wrapped his arms around me and I flung myself into his embrace, allowing him to half-carry me to the tan loveseat. He sat down and pulled me into his lap. I knew the rest of the team was still there, watching, I hadn't heard anyone move, but I didn't care. They would all wind up reading the letter eventually.

I realized with a jolt that I had only ever cried for the loss of a great man, a hero, the person everyone else missed.

So, for the first time since his death, I let myself cry for the loss of my brother, the one that _I_ missed.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Sad ending. Sorry. But I just got the idea of the letter while I was a counselor at camp, and I wrote it down during a break, and I was just like, eating my sandwich and writing in my notebook and crying and I must've looked like a lunatic, but it really did make me tear up a bit writing this. <strong>_

_**I hope you all liked it, and I really would appreciate it if you told me what you thought.**_

_**OH, AND I ALMOST FORGOT! There's like, a LOT of allusions/references in this chapter! **_

_**This is the list:  
>Nightshadow; Psych; Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade; Harry Potter (not directly quoted because I don't believe Logan to be a character that would actually get into Harry Potter, he would just listen to other rant about it then act like he knows what he's talking about); IKEA furniture; Dwayne "Thr Rock" Johnson; USA Network; and a far-out cry to a crabstickz video on YouTube.<strong>_

_**Hope you could spot them all!**_

_**Word Counts:  
><strong>__**This Chapter: 3,024  
>Total: 14,706<strong>_

_**SAHW,  
>Vid.<strong>_


	8. Chapter 8

_**Hello.**_

_**So, I was told the other day that I screwed up in last chapter's author's note. So if you noticed that, I fixed it.**_

_**And here's chapter 8.**_

_**ALSO NOTE: I mention Qurac because "Images" is roughly where the last time I actually mentioned the storyline (oops). I haven't seen that episode in so long, however, so I kept any and all talk about it extremely vague. Sorry for any inconvenience.**_

* * *

><p><span>Breaking Light: Chapter Eight:<span>  
>~Robin's POV~<p>

"_Presume not that I am the thing I was." ― William Shakespeare_

It happened about a week later, after a particularly stressful mission in Qurac.

Renee had pretty much gone back to normal after the Incident involving Logan's ridiculous lawyers; we all knew she had the letter with her at all times, though. It was all she had left, after all. None of us could blame her.

Except, apparently, one person who wasn't feeling the aster quite as much. (If at all). It goes without saying who that person was.

"So, that proved to be interesting." Renee flopped onto the couch in the main room of Mount Justice ungracefully.

"Interesting? More like terrible. My head still hurts." Wally complained, collapsing onto the other side of the couch with Artemis.

"Well if you had just trusted me enough, maybe none of this would've happened." Zatanna muttered under her breath.

"_Excuse me?_ Zatanna, that has nothing to do with this mission – with any part of this conversation, for that matter. Who says I don't trust you?" Renee called her out, effectively freezing everyone else. I don't know if it was the stressful mission, or the thing with her brother or what, but I could tell that something had snapped in the Shadow.

"You do. Or, rather, you _don't_. You've never trusted me." Zatanna accused defiantly, arms crossed.

"Alright, yes, you are partially correct. I _didn't _trust you, back when you were a psycho bitch out for blood. But that isn't _you_. Admittedly, ever since the camping trip I've been a bit wary. But that's mostly because I don't really know how to handle this type of situation. I've never had to re-meet someone. But considering you kidnapped my boyfriend and practically tried to _destroy_ me – even though you weren't in your right mind – you gotta cut me a little slack, here. But to accuse me of not trusting you – I trust every member of this team with my _life_, you included. Even though we obviously don't see eye to eye." My eyes darted back and forth between the two girls, trying to figure out if (or when, really) I should step in.

"And _why_ exactly are you blaming all this on _me_? It's not my fault, it's that chip's! I have been trying _so hard_ to get to know you, to be your friend, but you keep pushing me away!" Zatanna retaliated, her voice rising.

_**Bampf**_.

Uh-oh.

"Pushing _you_ away? You've been the one keeping your distance!" Renee was right in front of Zatanna now; the two girls were nose-to-nose. Renee ran a hand through her hair, taking off her mask as she did. Her eyes were steely gray, and even if I hadn't been witness to the shouting match going on, I would've suspected something was up. I had never seen her look like that before.

"Listen, Zatanna," Renee started again, her voice dropping marginally, "this – this is difficult for everyone involved. I _understand_ that it wasn't _really_ you, but it's harder for me than everyone else because that was the only _you_ I had known. And I'll be the first to admit, I haven't made it a walk in the park to clear the air. But I've been _trying_. Fact of the matter is, out there, on a mission, whatever – I trust you with my _life._ This is not an issue of trust. This is me, trying to wrap my head around that everything I've ever thought I knew about you was basically a lie. This is me, discarding all past judgments. This is me, _meeting you halfway._ I'm willing to work on – on _this_ – if you are. But I'm not gonna do it alone."

"Bull." Zatanna spat.

Something I couldn't recognize flashed in Renee's hard stare, but then suddenly her body relaxed, even slumped a little, and her gaze softened.

"You know, my brother once told me that tech that screwed with your mind really just enhanced your nature, your most basic of characteristics. I thought he was a fool for thinking that. But now you've given me reason to believe that he was right. _And that makes me sad for you._ …Let me know when you're willing to meet me halfway." _**Bampf**_. A wisp of black smoke curled in front of Zatanna before dissipating into the air.

It was like she had flipped a switch when she teleported; we all started moving again at once. Zatanna stormed off to her room, which was eerily similar to her behavior when she had the chip on her and got in an argument. M'gann and Conner headed towards the kitchen, heads close together, M'gann talking animatedly. After giving me a worrying look out of sympathy, Artemis joined Wally on the couch; the latter being strangely silent. Kaldur walked off towards his room, and Roy had (fortunately for him) left before the argument had begun.

What did I do?

I took the Zeta platform to the Bat Cave, changed into civvies, and walked from Wayne Manor to Renee's house.

* * *

><p>I hadn't had time to pull my hand away from the doorbell when she opened it.<p>

"Hi."

"Hey, come on in." She opened the door wider and stepped aside, letting me through.

"I wanted to make sure you were okay." I said as I closed the door behind me and followed her farther into the house.

To my surprise, she headed towards basement stairs. I had expected the living room, maybe her bedroom upstairs. But I had never been in the basement of her home as of yet.

Before she started descending the stairs, however, she turned to face me.

"I am perfect, Dick." But the smile didn't reach her eyes.

"There's feasibly no such thing as perfect." I responded quickly, calling her out on her bluff.

"Then I am as close to perfect as humanly possible." She told me with an air of finality. I let the subject drop.

And then she showed me the basement.

It reminded me of the Bat Cave, only not dark and creepy, and more like Renee.

"My brother built it. He had one at his place, too. And one at dad's. Basically, he built one of these HQ things in any place he lived for more than two months." Renee explained as she made a beeline for the right side of the room, where floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lined the walls. On the left side, I saw an array of newspaper clippings taped haphazardly to the walls, most of them of Ra, but a few more recent ones had members of Young Justice mentioned in them. A large desk with a giant floating monitor took center stage; I questioned it's being there until I remembered with a slight pang that although Nightshadow wasn't very technologically inclined, Ra had always strived to be on the cutting-edge.

"I was gonna sort through these bookshelves, since I've never touched the ones that Logan had designated as 'his'. You know, clear my mind with some menial cleaning labor. I was heading down here when you came." She told me as she started pulling books off the first shelf. I quickly moved to her side, pulling books off of the shelf above.

"How are we sorting these?" She just looked at me for a moment, as if confused, and I had to suppress a chuckle.

But she quickly brushed it off and said, "Alphabetical by author. And if they're reference books or whatever, they'll go at the very end. Sound good?" I nodded, and she turned back to pulling the books off of the shelves and handing them to me to alphabetize. The silence stretched comfortably on, the only sounds that of books sliding off of shelves and the occasional muttered curse when one of us dropped something. About halfway through the bookshelves (which I discovered stretched across not one, but two walls), however, Renee let out a high-pitched squeal.

"What? What is it?" I immediately assumed she had discovered a dead mouse or something. But Renee just turned to face me, clutching a thin brown book in her hands.

"I can't believe I found it!" She said breathlessly, a smile spread across her face. A few strands of hair were in her face, and her eyes had changed – they were now a brilliant green, and sparkling with glee.

"Found what?" I asked as I picked my way through the piles of books, both intrigued and amused by her enthusiasm over a book.

"_Frankenstein_, by Mary Shelley. My brother had a copy that he had annotated in the margins – he _loved_ this book. It was his favorite. One of the few books in his library that he actually read and enjoyed. Mostly he just liked collecting books, so he would always have a stock of them for someone in the family to read. I would _beg _him to let me read it whenever he pulled it out, he said he'd let me read it when I was a teenager…" She trailed off, and I wrapped my arms around her, resting my chin on her head.

"You can read it now." I said softly, and she nodded into my chest.

I couldn't help but be extremely glad I was there when she found it. A book that she _knew_ Logan loved, that he had written in, annotated his favorite parts – a letter was one thing, something written at a single moment in time, in a certain frame of mind. This was something else entirely.

I couldn't help but feel a familiar pain in my chest. I knew what it's like, losing the people you love. But now that she has things, things that were _his_, the pain she felt would lessen.

"Thank you." I heard her mumble through the cotton of my shirt. I knew, by the way she said it, that she was thanking me for a plethora of things – for everything; but I couldn't help but think she was talking about me being here, coming to her after she left. That I was doing _something _right as a boyfriend.

Which is always a plus.

"Let's finish this, okay? Today's been pretty whelming."

Renee pulled away enough so she could look up at me.

"You can say that again. I don't understand what Zatanna's deal is. I mean, I'm not gonna lose any more sleep over it, because it's obvious she's like talking to a brick wall, but seriously…she is, if I may, not feeling the aster." I laughed and kissed her (before she had the chance to turn back to work. What can I say? I take every opportunity I can). I decided to let the _more_ slide for now, even though I had the sinking feeling that she had been hiding something and I hadn't picked up on it.

I went back to the piles of books littering the floor, setting _Frankenstein_ aside in a pile all its own.

I also made a mental note to ask Alfred if there was a copy at the Manor for me to read it as well.

"Hey Renee?" I break the silence suddenly.

"Yeah?" She responded, eyeing me curiously.

"Wanna go to New York City tomorrow? It'll be Saturday, and Batman told us that we have the weekend off." I tilted my head to the side, rubbing at the back of my neck.

"Like, just the two of us?" She asked, a flash of hope in her eyes.

"Just the two of us." I agreed.

"Like…like a date?" I felt my mouth stretch into a grin involuntarily. The one bad thing about being superheroes and in a relationship? Dates are few and far between.

"Not _like_ a date. Just _a date._" I corrected her, and watched as her eyes lit up.

"Yes. Yes, I would very much like to go to New York City with you, Richard." She said with a little mock-curtsy, and I laughed.

Inwardly, I was jumping for joy because this would be the first time since _before_ the camping trip that we would be doing something together without the rest of the team. (No, cleaning bookshelves doesn't count, sorry. Cleaning bookshelves is not a date).

Plus, as an added bonus, Renee and I going on a date equals Renee not worrying about Zatanna anymore.

And that's always a good thing.

We spent the rest of the night alphabetizing books and figuring out what we were gonna do the next day, and I couldn't help but think:

_It's almost as if we're normal._

"_Perfection is nothing more than something we, as humans, created as an object of desire, something to strive for." –Renee Cooper _

* * *

><p><em><strong>Tada! <strong>_

_**Sorry it was a little all-over-the-place, and I feel like there's multiple endings (Return of the King, anyone?) but I needed all the sections of the chapter for things to get moving, and it's a weird transition, but it's taken me a week to try to write this chapter (I would've skipped it, but I can't move on without it) and this is the best version. (There's been like, six. Oopsies.)**_

_**So, my apologizes on behalf of the - for lack of a more suitable word - weirdness of it all.**_

_**In other news, YAY ZATANNA'S STILL A BITCH! I know some of you will be happy about that ;D**_

_**Anyway, hope you all enjoyed. **_

_**Additionally, I'm thinking about making the image for this story being a photo that kinda matches the description of Renee in this chapter, only it's really played with the contrast and saturation and stuff…I was having fun. I would have you guys like, vote or something (cause there's two), but I really don't have anywhere to post the photo (except like, tumblr or something)…so I dunno what I'm gonna do. I'm just writing everything that I'm thinking at this point…sorry.**_

_**Word Count:  
>This chapter: 2,108<br>Total: 16,814  
><strong>_

_**SAHW,  
>Vid.<strong>_


	9. Chapter 9

_**A/N:**_

_**Hello…  
>So, yeah. Let me explain my absence.<br>The time period between my last update and now went something like this:**_

_**Family visiting. Band Camp. More family visiting. Summer Homework and Internet crashing. Another funeral. First week of school. First marching band game of the season. Sleeping and Doctor Who. Today.**_

_**So you can see my dilemma. **_

_**Also, I had a total realization while I was staring at a blank word document trying to write. I'm writing a relationship here, when I've never so much as had a guy look twice my way.  
><strong>**And then I felt really, REALLY weird writing relationships when I've never been in one. **_

_**So that was my SECOND dilemma. **_

_**But now I'm back, and hopefully this chapter makes up for the whole Vid-totally-disappears-from-fanfiction-but-spamreblogs-all-the-time-on-tumblr-because-her-iPad-has-internet-but-not-word.**_

* * *

><p><span>Breaking Light: Chapter 9:<span>  
>~Renee's POV~<p>

"_A kiss is a lovely trick designed by nature to stop speech when words become superfluous."  
>-Ingrid Bergman<em>

Dick had to be the most awesome person on the planet.

But let me explain why, first.

I had gotten up the next morning and gotten ready, and walked downstairs to find Alfred making pancakes in my kitchen.

Let me repeat that: _Alfred. Making pancakes. In my kitchen._

"Um, good morning Alfred?" I asked uncertainly, rubbing a hand on the back of my neck. I really didn't know what to do; I had only spoken to the man a handful of times. Alfred turned around and smiled at me, handing over a plate of pancakes.

"Master Richard let me in. He meant to surprise you by being here himself, but something came up." He informed me, and my stomach dropped.

"Something came up? So he's not coming." I plopped down at the table, not bothering to wait for an answer.

"Not exactly. He asked me to instruct you to meet him at 5th and East 82nd." Alfred said with a sly smile.

"Fifth and 82nd…why does he want me to meet him at Central Park?" I asked, trying to remember what could possibly be there.

"I don't know. But you best be going now." I nodded, finishing my breakfast.

"Thank you for the pancakes, Alfred. You don't have to clean up; I can take care of it later." I told him as I walked out the door, not giving him time to object.

I doubted he'd heed my request, but it was worth a shot.

I teleported to the nearest Zeta tube, which took me to 59th. I got on the 6 train to 77th and walked the rest of the way. Or, well, almost the rest of the way. I got to like, 80th or something when I realized where I was heading.

Which is why Dick Grayson is the best person on earth.

He took me to the Met.

For those who are not a geek of the history variety, the Met is the Metropolitan Museum of Art. And I had been _dying_ to go for _ages._

How Dick had any idea (if he had any idea at all) is a mystery to me.

But that's okay, because sure enough, when I got to 82nd and crossed over Fifth Avenue, Dick was standing in front of the waterfall thingy with the biggest smile on his face.

"Hey." He sent me a crooked smile. I launched myself into his arms, and if we weren't superheroes, he would've fallen over.

"You are my favorite person right now." I mumbled into his shirt.

"Excuse me, miss." An ancient, heavily accented voice spoke up from behind me. I whipped around in Dick's arms to come face-to-face with a little old lady.

"Hello ma'am. What can we do for you?" Dick said smoothly, resting his head on my shoulder.

"This is Central Park, yes?" She asked. I nodded. "This the library?" She pointed to the Met behind us.

"Oh, no, ma'am. The public library's from West 40th to 42nd. We're at 82nd right now. You have to go that way –" I pointed down the street, "– but I suggest taking the subway. It's a long walk." The woman nodded her thanks and hobbled away.

"Of all the people she could've interrupted." I muttered under my breath, making Dick chuckle.

"Well, look around. We're the only ones that don't look like complete tourists. Now c'mon, let's go inside!" Dick grabbed my hand and headed towards the large marble staircase, cutting the line and going straight inside.

"There's a line, you know." I pointed out to him, but he just kept pulling me around the maze of employees, tourists, and even a school group.

At the ticket booth inside was the only time someone tried to stop him, and all Dick had to do was mutter a few words and flash the employee something I couldn't see and we were off again. He pulled me straight into a throng of not-very-happy-tourists.

"Whaddya mean, closed?" One particularly red-faced man spat at a security guard.

"I'm sorry sir, but this wing is closed for another hour for a private event." The guard replied, and I shot him a sympathetic look.

He gave me a slight smile and turned away again – only to look back at Dick and I.

"Oh! You must be Miss Knight. Go on in, you two. Have fun." The guard unhinged the velvet rope with a wink. I nodded in thanks as Dick led me into the room that was blocked to everyone else, much to red-faced-man's chagrin.

"What's going on? Why did that guard know my name?" Dick just led me further into the room, and then he turned into another room (I think), but I wasn't really paying attention. Finally, I stopped walking and pulled my hand from his grasp, hands on my hips.

"What is going on?" I demanded. Dick pulled off his sunglasses as his mouth formed into a wide smile.

"Surprise." I slowly turned around, finally taking in my surroundings.

"Oh. My. God. Oh my god. _Oh my god!_" My jaw hung slack, but I really didn't care.

"I take it I did well, then?" I could _hear_ the smirk in the Boy Wonder's voice.

"Did _well_? You did freakin' amazing! There's _no way_ you did this last night. You've been planning this, haven't you?" I couldn't stop smiling.

For I was standing in front of the Temple of Dendur.***** It was just as big and _awesome_ as I had imagined. All cracked sand-colored stone, with intricate designs and scarabs adorned into the rock. It was magnificent. And I was seeing it without any tourists, or security guards, or anything. Just me and Dick Grayson, and a giant freaking temple that I had been drooling over on the met website for _ever._ Well, maybe not ever. But I've made my point.

The point being that I'm the luckiest girl in the world.

"I may have done a bit of hacking a few weeks ago and found your internet search history. So I figured, what the hey? I can get Bruce to pull some strings for us." I spun around to face him again and bounced up and down like a little child.

"Thank you thank you thank you _thank you_!" I gushed, flinging my arms around his neck and kissing him.

We broke apart after a moment and I rushed back over to the temple, inspecting it in kind.

"This has got to be the _coolest_ thing on the face of the earth. I mean, seriously, I think Logan _may_ have brainwashed me as a child, but if I wasn't a you-know-what then I would _totally_ be an archeologist."

"Really? I never would've guessed. I mean, I get the whole Egyptian thing, sure. But I don't see you as someone constantly knee-deep in dirt and the dust that used to be other people's bones." I scrunched up my nose, but the smile was still etched on my face.

"When you put it that way, it sounds gross." I complained, but I was laughing as I spoke.

Dick laughed, too.

"Sorry to ruin the aster."

"No aster ruined here." I smiled, pausing for a moment in my exploring the temple to glance at Dick. He was trailing behind me, looking at everything I looked at, taking it all in. I could tell he was trying to see what I saw, which made me _extremely_ pleased.

"This thing sure is huge." He commented.

"It was built by Augustus in Nubia. The reason why it's here is because it was dismantled to save it from a nearby lake that was rising due to a dam. It was given to us as a gift from Egypt, to recognize our efforts to help ancient monuments in Nubia." I rattled off the information that Logan had first told me and I later read a dozen times on the internet.

"You certainly know a lot about it. You sure you've never been here before?" Dick teased, and I stuck my tongue out at him from over my shoulder.

"Positive. But seriously, when I get married, I totally want it to be here. Probably not the reception – drunk people and ancient artifacts don't mix – but the ceremony? Absolutely _yes._" I didn't really think about what I was saying until after I said it, in which I immediately flushed a deep crimson.

"Duly noted." Dick said from behind me, but I pretended I didn't hear him, and instead started talking about Augustus and how he was the Roman emperor Augustus and stuff for a few minutes until Dick cut me off.

"You wanna see the rest of the exhibit? I got this entire wing closed for another hour." He asked, a mischievous glint in his eye. I laced our fingers together.

"Oh, would I ever." I beamed up at him.

We spent the remainder of the hour exploring the rest of the Egyptian Art exhibits. Exploring meaning we walked around as I tried to take in absolutely everything while spewing out random facts every once in a while like a complete nerd.

Then the nice guard from before came in and told us he had to let the tourists in now, and we thanked him, and Dick put on his sunglasses, and we headed back towards the rest of the Met. We passed red-faced guy, who shot us a nasty look, and a few other people who we had walked right in front of an hour earlier, but none of them were out-right mean to us. I guess we looked rich or something. Well, Dick always looks rich. But I guess I looked rich.

We spent the rest of the morning exploring the Met (Dick's favorite part was the Arms and Armor gallery, unsurprisingly) and then had lunch at a quiet little café nearby.

Then it was, "Hey, wanna go see _Phantom of the Opera_?"

Which of course I said yes to because A) I was eight the last time I saw it and B) I know better than to turn down an invitation to a good musical. I was surprised when the curtain rose after intermission and Dick leaned over and whispered in my ear that he had never seen _Phantom_ before. But when we were walking out of the theatre and into late-afternoon foot traffic he said he liked it.

Which was good, because I liked it too.

And I was having a great time, and we were wandering around the theatre district trying to decide where to eat when Wally showed up and basically ruined everything.

…well, that's a little harsh. It wasn't his fault Batman sent him to find us.

"Wally?" I asked, a hint of dread in my voice. Dick just raised an eyebrow at the speedster.

"I have been looking _all over _for you guys!" He exclaimed, panting a little.

"Dude, why are you _here_?" Dick finally said, after letting Wally catch his breath.

"Someone shut down the Zeta tubes. Someone in Manhattan. The rest of the team's all here. Batman told me to come find you guys, that you'd be in the theatre district, but I have no idea when one area ends and another begins! This place is crazy overrun with people!" Wally explained all in one breath. Dick sighed beside me.

_Of course, there's always a disaster when I'm having a good time._ I thought ruefully. As if he read my mind, Dick squeezed my hand gently.

_We can come back another day_ His eyes seemed to say.

"Alright, Wally. Lead the way." I told the speedster, and we followed his red hair through the throngs of people for a few blocks until we reached a nondescript high-rise that seemed to be an office building.

"_Alright guys, I got 'em." _I heard Wally's voice in my head, and glared at him a bit as Artemis responded with:

"_Yes, Wally, we know. And they know too." _The speedster flushed the same shade as his hair before mumbling an apology.

"_Want me to teleport in there?" _I asked, because hey, that seemed like the most logical way to go about this whole, Zeta-transport-is-down thing.

"_Take Robin with you." _Aqualad affirmed, and M'gann sent me a mental image of what she could see of the inside of the building.

_**Bamf.**_

"_Cool. We're in." _Robin told the team, and he and I immediately started searching through the rooms on the floor we were in – whatever floor that was. Soon enough, I stumbled upon what looked like an emergency stairwell.

"_I found some stairs. I'm going up, Rob."_

"_Kay. Be careful." _

"_When am I not?" _I countered.

"_Will you two stop with the cute little banter?"_ An irritated voice snapped. Zatanna. I had no idea she was actually there. Which in retrospect was stupid because she was a part of the team, so of course she'd be there.

"_C'mon, Arty, let's have some cute little banter!"_ Wally thought suddenly. I could practically _hear_ Artemis roll her eyes.

"_In your dreams, Baywatch." _She shot back at him, and then my head was filled with the two of them arguing.

"_Shadow, come back. I found something."_ Robin cut through the fight, effectively silencing it.

_**Bamf.**_

"_What is it?" _I asked, now at his side. If the Boy Wonder was caught by surprise, he didn't show it.

Scrawled in sharpie on the wall above an old, boom box/radio was the message, 'Press Play'.

"_Guys, I suggest you get in here. Sixth floor."_ A few moments later we were surrounded by our teammates.

Robin pressed play.

Nothing happened.

Then, the radio started crackling, making me jump. Dick grabbed my hand in his and squeezed comfortingly. Then a soft voice, female, came floating through the ancient speakers:

_Hello, Super-sidekicks._

_How are you?_

Robin started tapping away on his arm-computer.

_I am looking for something._

_And one of you has it._

That piques everyone's interest. We all glance around at each other in the gloom of the windowless office.

_I'm going to get it back, whatever it takes._

_You have been warned._

A long pause. The only things I could hear were the crackling of static on the radio and the shallow breathing of the team.

…_Nightshadow._

The radio went silent.

"Dammit!" Robin cursed under his breath. Looking over at him, I saw the red words on his hologram-screen blinking 'Trace Lost'.

I sighed inwardly and let me shoulders slump slightly.

"Why does everyone have beef with _me_?" I asked no one in particular, my question hanging in the air.

No one had an answer.

* * *

><p><em><strong>* <strong><em>metmuseum collectionssearch-the-collections/100004628?img=1  
><em>**That is the temple of Dendur. I totally suggest you scroll through the Met's pictures of it, at least. I had the privilege of seeing it back in May and I was in awe. (I'm a total geek when it comes to architecture and temples and pyramids and things.) I find Ancient Egypt and Greece fascinating (although Renee knows much more than I do). If you're into that kind of thing (or really just museums in general) and you ever go to NYC, I suggest going to the Met. Because the Met has like, everything imaginable. (I spent a good hour drooling over the horns in the Musical Instruments exhibit) And if you've been there and have seen it, you understand my immense fascination.  
>(Just in case the whole url doesn't show up, it's org, not com. Also linked on my profile, too.)<br>**_

_**So yeah, ever sorry for the delay, but if you still follow BL; I hope you liked the chapter.  
><strong>_

_**Review if you would so like to, they're like the sprinkles on my ice cream (I was going to say "icing on the cake", but then I realized I don't like icing. Lol)**_

_**Word Counts:  
>This Chapter: 2,450<br>Total: 19,264**_

_**SAHW,  
>Vid.<strong>_

_**PS- if you read down this far, OMG I LOVE YOU. Also, I'm promoting my tumblr right now. I really just reblog stuff, but if you could check it out and maybe even follow me, I would be like, the happiest girl in the world. **_


	10. Chapter 10

_**A/N: **_

_**Hey everyone! I know what you're thinking, "Twice in a week? What have you done with Vid?!" But I assure you, it's really me.**_

_**Three quick things:  
>First, I've officially named these stories (Nightshadow and Breaking Light) "The Knight Chronicles" because I wanted a name and that was the only I could think of. So, yeah, that's why the summaries of BL and NS are slightly changed now (:<strong>_

_**Second, I may/may not have mentioned earlier that I did an outline of the rest of BL a couple of months ago. But I did. And it looks like I'm going to have 26 total chapters and a super-awesome, already-written epilogue that I'm super excited about and really proud of. (: Just an FYI.**_

_**Third, this weekend I will (finally) fulfill my promise to go back through Nightshadow with a fine-tooth comb. It probably won't (and it shouldn't) blow up your inbox's with updates, but I just wanted to let you know, in case it does. Nothing's being changed (besides the spelling/grammatical errors that I find), though, so don't worry!**_

_**But here's chapter ten of BL!**_

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><p><span>Breaking Light: Chapter 10:<span>  
>~Wally's POV~<p>

_"You can close your eyes to the things you don't want to see, but you can't close your heart to the things you don't want to feel."  
>–Johnny Depp<em>

We went back to the mountain after that weird whatever-you-want-to-call it.

The only information I retained from it was that Renee, apparently, has a _lot _of enemies. Who knew?

I really didn't know exactly what to do when we got back. I mean, Rob was being all super-detective, and so Renee was obviously with him, and Megan and Conner went to go do something lovey-dovey. Kaldur and Roy were training, and there wasn't any way this side of hell that I was going to spend time _alone_ with Zatanna, not after what she did to Rob.

Oh, and Artemis disappeared as soon as we got back. Because that seemed to be all she was doing lately. Did I mention that?

I guess I didn't.

But anyway, I wasn't going to play video games all by myself (no one else to blame when I accidentally blow myself up or something), so I did the next best thing:

I ate.

I made myself busy in the kitchen, dragging one of just about everything in the fridge out to make one kick-ass sandwich, when _**bampf**_.

I turned on my heel to see Renee wandering towards the general direction of the fridge, paying attention more to the small slip of paper in her hands than where she was going (or who she was with).

"Wha'cha got there?" I asked jovially, a grin spreading across my face when she jumped a foot in the air with surprise.

"We wrote down what the radio transmitted. Rob's doing some techy stuff that I will never, _ever_ understand, so I thought I'd get something to eat in the meantime." She rubbed at the back of her neck absent-mindedly.

"Well, you're sure taking this whole calling-you-out thing better than I thought you would." I was blunt with her, and I knew it. I winced a little when a pair of midnight blue eyes locked with mine for a moment. But they quickly shifted away, looking past me at a point over my shoulder.

"I'm staying traught. You'd do the same." She admitted, carefully leaving out certain words. I filled in the blanks easily. _I'm staying traught _for Robin_. You'd do the same _for Artemis_. _

She was right, of course. I knew exactly what she meant, how she was feeling. But I didn't comment on that. That'd be too serious for my liking. Plus, Renee didn't seem to want to have a serious-Wally-moment, so I let that small part of my brain take a break.

Instead, I stayed silent for a moment, until she had opened the fridge and pulled out her food of choice – yogurt – until I blurted out, "So Rob's rubbed off on you now?"

She ripped the top off of the yogurt and smiled.

"Morphological gaps." Renee muttered quietly, and for a split-second, she got this far-away look in her eyes. But as soon as I recognized it, it was gone, and she was taking a bite of yogurt.

_Do I look like that when I talk about Artemis?_ I thought, then added ruefully, _She never looks like that when she talks to me._

"What's on your mind, Kid?" I whipped my head around to look at her. _It's as if she read my mind…?_

"You're not a mind-reader now, too, are you?" I tried to keep my voice light, but failed. Renee just smiled and pulled herself onto a kitchen stool. I sighed inwardly and sat down across from her and bit into my masterpiece sandwich, chewing slowly.

"Nope. You just had that look."

I blinked, "What look?"

"That look people get when they've got something on their mind, but they don't know what to do about it." Renee stared up at me with another smile.

"It's nothing." I immediately uttered through a mouthful of food, which made the shadow chuckle.

"If it's nothing, than you can tell me." She said slyly. My eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Rob really _has _rubbed off on you!" I exclaimed, and she started laughing. Her laughter died down, and we sat in companionable silence until I finished my sandwich.

"Seriously, Wally, something's up." I inhaled a deep breath, prepping myself. I didn't have to have Renee tell me that she wasn't going to stop asking until I talked.

"I just…I think there's something up with Artemis." I finally admitted, my voice dropping to a whisper. Renee gestured with her spoon to continue.

"She just…every moment of free time we have, she off and disappears. I think she's hiding something from me. I don't want her to have to hide anything from me." I let my gaze drop to the counter, focusing in on the miniscule scratches and dents in it.

"Well, I think you should just ask her. You're a guy, after all."

My brow furrowed, "What?"

"You, Wally West, are male. Therefore, your best bet is the direct approach." Renee reiterated, and I could hear the confidence in her tone.

She just thought it was so _easy_. Has _she_ ever talked to _Artemis_ about _feelings_?

**NO!**

Well, actually, yeah, they have…quite a few times actually…

…Maybe the Shadow's right.

"Direct approach to what?" A raspy voice spoke suddenly, and I shot upright at the sound. Artemis. Standing in the doorway to the kitchen.

"This is my cue to leave." Renee murmured quietly, hopping off her stool and grabbing another yogurt – presumably for Dick – before slipping past the blonde archer and out of the kitchen.

"Are you going to answer my question, Baywatch?" Artemis asked, sidling up to me.

"It's nothing." I responded immediately, then silently cursed myself for being a repeat offender of the 'nothing' excuse. Arty cocked an eyebrow.

"Bull." She practically spat. _At least she didn't take on the sly loophole approach like Renee did. Then it would have been safe to assume that they had been taking how-to-be-Dick-Grayson-lessons._

"Alright, alright, fine babe. You keep disappearing whenever we have an ounce of time to ourselves. Is there something going on?" I took Renee's advice, begrudgingly. I had a sinking feeling it wasn't going to go well.

"No, Wally. Nothing's wrong. Nothing is going on."

I looked at her incredulously, "Really? You're going to pull that _immediately_ after calling me out for it?" I smirked a little. Artemis planted her hands on her hips and trained her steely gaze on me.

"Nothing is going on that _you_ need to know about. Happy?" I flinched at the hostility in her tone, instantly shrinking back a little.

"Artemis…" I trailed off and reached out to grab her hand or something, anything to make amends, but she stepped out of my reach.

"Enough, Wally. Just let it go." I watched with a heavy heart as Artemis walked out of the kitchen.

I felt almost as if I was going to throw up, and I didn't like it.

_Time to fix things, West._

"_You don't seduce a woman with your forehead and your Adam's apple."  
>–Shawn Spencer, Psych, S2E13<em>

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><p><em><strong>Ta-da!<strong>_

_**Yeah, the kitchen's made a comeback (lol.)This chapter turned out a lot…sadder than I expected.**_

_**So, you guys have given me almost as many reviews in the first nine chapters than in the total of "Nightshadow." That makes me really, super excited guys. I set out to write a story that would make people **__**want**__** to talk about it. And for being an amateur writer, and considering that this is a sequel (which automatically turns some people off), all this awesomeness that is you guys is truly **__**incredible**__**.**_

_**So I thought that, since we've hit the first milestone – the tenth chapter - I would share my appreciation. **_

_**Thanks you guys who review/alert/favorite/and I guess lurk too; you're the reason why I don't give up when I've been staring at the same blank word document for three hours.**_

…_**and that's what I wanted to say.**_

_**Word Counts:  
>This chapter: 1,193<br>Total: 20,457**_

_**SAHW,  
>Vid.<strong>_


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N:**_

_**The good news? I've written most of the rest of the story.**_

_**The bad news? It's in present-tense shorthand in a notebook, so I have to figure out what I wrote. **_

_**Here's chapter eleven, in the meantime.**_

_**Also, there's fake tech-speak in here. I don't understand technology, so it's all made up. Sorry if that offends someone.**_

_**PS- timeline update! This is somewhere between "agendas" and "insecurity", according to my notes.  
>This information probably helps you more so than me.<strong>_

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><p><span>Breaking Light: Chapter 11:<span>  
>~Artemis' POV~<p>

"_After all, damn it, what does being in love mean if you can't trust a person."  
>―Evelyn Waugh, Vile Bodies<em>

I instantly regretted snapping at Wally. Before I had turned away, I had caught a glimpse of his heartbroken expression, and it made my gut twist painfully.

But I forced it to the back of my mind and kept walking, in the direction that Renee had just went. Somewhere down the hall, a siren went off. Then a muffled shout.

I started running as fast as I could.

A breeze whipped past me, almost knocking me off my feet.

"What's going on?" I said a little breathlessly, sliding into the room and nearly barreling into my speedster.

"We have development!" Renee exclaimed in a sing-song voice, quite obviously proud of Robin. _Why can't you be like that with Wally? But no, you have to hide everything from him._

"Yeah. The good thing about our friendly Zeta hacker is that he has a unique signature. I've traced it back to not only the transmitted message, but also to the chip that was on Zatanna." My jaw slackened a little. Everything up until this point had been connected, and we hadn't even caught on.

Wally's voice brought me out of my stupor, "So do we know where to find this guy or what?" He demanded. To our dismay, Robin shook his head.

"Sorry, I haven't gotten that far yet. But can you spread the word to the others, KF? I still have work to do." Wally mock-saluted the ebony-haired boy and sped away.

"Hey, Artemis, why don't you and I go and leave Rob be?" Renee stated more than asked once the papers in the room had stopped ruffling. I followed the younger girl out the door and down the long hallway to the girl's wing. When we reached a door with a picture of the moon taped to it – Renee's room, how clever – she twisted the knob and all but shoved me inside.

I let out a grunt as I fell back against the bed, my hands gripping the violet duvet in an attempt not to fall flat on my back.

"Okay, what was that for?" I snarled, glaring up at Renee, who was now standing before me with her arms crossed over her chest, midnight blue eyes boring into me.

"You're really hurting Wally. And since you seem to want to avoid any and all confrontation regarding the matter, I decided that force would be necessary. So fess up, Artemis. Something's plaguing your mind, and it's affecting your relationship." I blinked in shock. I had seen this side to Renee before, but I couldn't recall ever being on the receiving end.

_You can't tell her, Artemis. It'll make a mess of everything._

"Nothing's wrong, Renee." I stated defiantly, standing up myself so that I towered over her. She didn't flinch.

"Well, Wally seems to think otherwise. So I'd clear things up if I were you." The girl was eerily calm.

_She's treating you like one of the bad guys,_ I thought with a jolt_. How did I end up a bad guy?_

I didn't understand why Renee was being this forward and intrusive on Wally and I's relationship. _Either Wally asked her to intervene, or she's worried herself into this state._

"I've already done that." I finally responded. Renee's eyes softened, her stance slowly losing its rigidness. She ran a delicate hand through her brown hair.

"I don't think that shutting Wally out further clears things up." She said with a small sigh. I felt my shoulders tense, and I saw Renee fight to hide her flinch before she regained her stony appearance.

_She's not as strong as she makes herself to be._

"Artemis, you know I'm just trying to help. You've done a lot for me, so has Wally. I'm just trying to help." Even though the Shadow's body was still cold, her eyes betrayed her. They stared up into mine, pleading. I shook my head, stepping around her and reached the door in two long strides.

"It's more complicated than you think, Renee." I muttered, wrenching open the door. I _felt_ more than heard Renee's sharp intake of breath, felt the tension snap. I had struck a chord, and we both knew it.

"You're not the only one with secrets!" she shouted at me, "you think you are, but you're not! Take a look at the people around you, Artemis! We all have skeletons in our closet!"

I purposely ignored her, and instead started down the corridor, head high and chin jutted out.

I just barely caught her whispered words before I turned the corner, "We trust our loved ones with those secrets. Or else we'll drown in them."

My chest constricted painfully, but I kept walking. I walked straight passed the kitchen, past the den, straight into the training room and planted myself directly between Roy and Kaldur.

"I want in on this." I practically barked, and Kaldur stepped out graciously, allowing Roy and I to size each other up.

I disregarded Roy's pointed look behind my shoulder and his muttered, "You sure you don't wanna spar with Wally?" and instead threw a punch square at his jaw. I could feel Wally's emerald green orbs staring at me, following my every move as I exerted my frustration into force.

_Why can't you just tell him? You're going crazy trying to keep everything in, Artemis. If anyone's going to understand, it'll be Baywatch. _

I shoved aside my thoughts, successfully decking Roy in the process.

"Kaldur? You game?" I called over my shoulder, but the Atlantean's response was cut off by a computerized voice.

"Recognized: Batman, 02." The Dark Knight stepped out of the flare of golden light and quickly glanced around the room. I saw Renee trail in last, half-hidden behind Robin's cape as the Boy Wonder strode up to his mentor and whispered something. I tried to catch my young friend's eye, but she looked away and kept her head down.

_Great, Artemis. Now two people are upset with you. You really screwed up this time._

"Team, you have a mission." Batman announced, stoic as ever. I felt my heart plummet as Wally went to stand by Renee and Robin, on the other side of the room.

_I have to fix this._

_Fast._

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><p><em><strong>Wow. Vid + overwhelmingness in life + frustration at chapter and other things = screwed over angstyish Artemis.<strong>_

_**Sorry I'm not at my best form, guys. **_

_**Anyway, review if you so please, they kinda-sorta motivate me. **_

_**Already starting on the next chapter, so hopefully marching band/life has calmed down enough that I can get something back on track.**_

_**Word Counts:  
>This Chapter: 1,062<br>Total: 21,519**_

_**SAHW,  
>Vid.<strong>_


	12. Chapter 12

_**Look at this, guys! Update! I'm really focused on this story, guys. Unforch, it means the others are being slightly neglected, but I just…there's been so many nightshadowxrobin FEELS going through my brain this week!**_

_**Enjoy!**_

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><p><span>Breaking Light: Chapter 12:<span>  
>~Renee's POV~<p>

"_Enjoy when you can, and endure when you must." –Johann Wolfgang von Goethe_

I found myself in an eerily similar situation to one I had experienced before after the fight with Cheshire and Sportsmaster.

I was sitting on a cold metal slab, staring at stark white walls as Dick bent over a long gash on my forearm that I had sustained not by actually fighting the villains, but slipping while trying to avoid them noticing me.

It wasn't a deep wound – aka no stitches yay! – but as soon as we had returned from the mission, Dick's gaze had immediately locked on to my arm and he ushered me away to the infirmary without giving me time to protest or explain myself.

So now, here I was, trying to ignore the sting of alcohol as the Boy Wonder meticulously cleaned and bandaged my wound.

"I still don't understand how you slipped." Robin mumbled. I huffed, blowing my hair out of my face.

"Yeah, well, to be honest, I'm not entirely sure either. I guess I'm just off today." I admitted, idly tracing patterns on my thigh with my spare hand.

"Today my ass. You haven't been feeling any aster since the hacker showed up." Dick scoffed. I hummed in agreement.

"I guess I'm just weirded out. I hope this whole, everyone-has-beef-with-Renee trend ends soon." Dick finished wrapping my arm and looked up at me, his blue eyes inspecting me from over his sunglasses.

"Renee. Something else is wrong, don't try lying to me." He said, borderline scolding me, and I gulped. I hadn't planned on telling him about my attempt to help Wally with his Artemis issues, but now that she wouldn't even talk to me, it had become painfully obvious. At least, it was to my detective of a boyfriend.

"Artemis and I are not exactly speaking at the moment." I muttered in a futile attempt to prevent him from hearing me.

"What? What did she do?" Dick was half-shouting, mouth twisted into an angry frown.

"Nothing! Well, almost nothing. Well, not to me. Well, kind of not to me. It's complicated!" I dropped my head into my hands.

"Is this about Wally?" He asked, and I nodded solemnly and rushed into an explanation.

"Wally was all weird and down so I was like what's on your mind and then he told me about how Artemis is keeping something from him and I told him to just ask her about it so he did and she just shut him down and I got the impression Wally thinks it's his fault so I talk to Artemis to try to get her to at least explain to Wally that whatev shit she has going on really has nothin to do with him and she's just not ready to tell anyone yet but she was just like, it's more complicated than that and was in a whole woe-as-me-the-only-one-with-secrets funk and I just got _so angry_ cause she's being totally selfish and Wally's trying to make up for somethin he didn't do but thinks he did and it's just this whole big mess so now Artemis won't talk to me and really, this is not something that I should be even dealing with because after all, we're only thirteen." I took a deep, shuddering breath, forcing the air back into my lungs. I didn't want Dick mad at Artemis, but the sudden lightness I felt made it selfishly okay.

Dick shook his head, rubbing at the back of his neck (a habit that I found out recently that we shared) and sighed.

"_You_ are thirteen." He muttered. I just grunted.

"You aren't mad at her?" He asked after a moment of dead quiet, glancing up at me. I shook my head. "Really?"

"Really. I was angry, but she's the one ignoring me, not the other way around." Dick hummed again at this and gracefully stood, holding out a hand. I took it, entwining our fingers together, and pulled myself up.

"I don't like it." He finally said as we walked through the double doors and into the hall.

"Neither do I, but at this point, Artemis needs to just suck it up and tell Wally _something_." I agreed, but Dick shook his head.

"No, I don't like the fact that all this shit is going on at once, and piling on you. It may just be coincidence, but I'm suspicious." He amended, and I looked over at him in shock.

_Never even thought of that. Guess that's why he's Batman's kid._ I thought, shoving a hand through my hair.

"Don't worry, I can handle it." I assured him, gently squeezing his hand. He squeezed back and murmured something inaudible. I got the feeling it was along the lines of _"I hope so."_

It was when I reached the kitchen that I realized how quiet the place was.

"Where is everybody?" I wondered aloud.

"Miss M and Conner are on a date, Kaldur had to take a quick trip to Atlantis, Wally, Artemis, and Roy all went home, and I have no clue where Zatanna is, but she isn't here." He rattled off, tucking his sunglasses in his jacket pocket as he talked.

I gaped at him, "How do you know these things?" He tapped his forearm and I watched as his shit-eating grin spread across his face.

"Magic." I stuck my tongue out at him.

"You didn't even glance at that arm-whatever the entire time since I've returned." Dick waggled his eyebrows a little.

"Like I said, magic."

"Impossible!" I cried, jumping at him. Or rather, where he was. I sailed straight through air and somersaulted into a standing position to break what could have been a pretty nasty fall.

"Okay, totally not funny Dick!" I yelled into the air, waiting to hear something, anything that would tell me where the little bird had disappeared to. I slowly turned in a circle, scanning the main training area.

A cackle sounding from above me broke the silence, and I looked up to see Dick dropping down towards me from above. Giving out a (totally embarrassingly girly) shriek, I teleported away, across the room.

"No fair!" he called, and I gawked.

"No fair!? You were the one that disappeared first!" I exclaimed, waving my arms wildly.

"Yes, but you have powers." And he was suddenly right there.

_Ack! __**Bampf.**_

I teleported away again.

"You use your powers so defensively. You're prolonging the fight." He commented critically.

"Hmpf. Easy for you to say. You got super ninja skills and the belt of doom." Dick let out a throaty laugh, almost doubling over.

"Belt of Doom. I like it. Mind if I use it more often, darling?" My heart nearly skipped a beat. Dick wasn't big on terms of endearment and such.

Effectively catching me off guard, he rammed his foot into my stomach, sending me flying back.

"No fair! We were having a conversation!" I wheezed, getting up and teleporting away from him again.

Dick spun on his heel and gave me a look, "we're also training."

I huffed and teleported next to him, bending down and nearly swiping his legs out from under him. Instead of collapsing to the ground, he used the falling momentum to flip himself over, landing upright again a foot away.

"To make this fair, I'm not going to use the Belt of Doom." He told me before kicking out once more. I ducked and slid under him, using the second he had to take to turn around to kick him square in the back. He went flying, but as soon as he slid to a stop he was coming at me. I teleported to the side and swung my arm, hitting him in the side as he ran past.

"Clever." He praised, and I felt my cheeks grow warm.

"Thanks." I responded, but he was gone again. I immediately looked up, searching for a shadow.

"_Holy socks!_" I screeched as I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around my stomach, pulling me so my back was pressed against his chest.

"Holy socks?" He whispered in my ear, breath hot against my neck.

"Trying to keep the language in check." I muttered almost inaudibly. Dick leaned forward a little to hear me, and I took my opportunity. I slipped my right foot behind his and pulled, bringing both our feet off the ground. Unable to keep his balance, Dick landed hard on his back with a thud, me falling on top of him. I twisted around in his arms.

"Ha! I win!" I smirked victoriously. The fallen Boy Wonder's eyes glinted, but before I could register what I had seen, I was on my back.

"You suck." I whined child-like, sticking my tongue out.

"Love you too." His voice dripped with sarcasm, but it made my heart flutter nonetheless. I smiled a little, and he gave me a look I understood as, _but yeah. Seriously_. Rolling slowly back to our original positions, Dick sighed.

"We need to do this more often." I declared softly, relaxing in his grip and settling my head on his chest, just beneath his chin.

His fingers made patterns on my lower back, "Yeah. Yeah, we do." I slowly closed my eyes and just listened to Dick's heart pumping tirelessly, his even breathing.

"I really do love you, you know." He murmured, and I felt the vibrations hum through his chest. Craning my neck up so I could look at him, I smiled.

"I know. And I love you." Dick lifted me up gently by the waist and brought my face close to his.

"I know." He said against my lips, and I suppressed a shudder at the feeling, instead kissing him. It was long, languid and sweet. I felt the electricity flow from the tips of my fingers to my toes, just like always.

I would never tire of that feeling.

Parting for air, I leaned my head against his chest again, my eyes sliding shut involuntarily, just enjoying the feeling of being in his arms. It didn't happen as often as I liked, us being superheroes and all.

"You must be exhausted," he commented, "you should go home." He slowly pulled us up into a sitting position.

"What about you?" I mumbled into his chest. I felt him chuckle.

"I'm going back to the Batcave." I started shaking my head.

"I don't want to. This is too nice." The Boy Wonder kissed the top of my head tenderly.

"Go home." He insisted. I grumbled, but stood up nevertheless, extending my hand to help him as well.

As I plodded to the Zeta-tubes, the exhaustion really hit me. It had been at least twenty-four hours since I had slept last, and the aches in my muscles ached.

How Dick had known I was exhausted before I even knew was something I wasn't even going to think about. I turned around before walking through the Zeta platform, smiling tiredly at my boyfriend. He grinned back and winked, pulling his glasses from his pocket.

I clamored out of the phone booth and teleported to the secret spot behind the dumpster in the alley by my home so I didn't have to walk.

I trudged up my front steps and slid the key in the lock, pushing the old wooden door open with my shoulder.

As I closed the door again, I dropped the keys next to it, where the key dish _should_ have been, not really paying attention to my surroundings. But when instead of hearing the keys immediately rattle against glass, I heard them a moment too late scratching against _wood_, I looked down.

The bowl wasn't there.

Hell, the entire _table_ wasn't there.

My house keys had hit the ground next to a pile of crushed glass. The small table was knocked over on its side, a dent in the wall where the corner hit. I ran down the hallway into the kitchen. Cabinets were open, some torn off their hinges, the chairs knocked carelessly down. Rushing into the living room, I saw more destruction. My meticulously sorted DVD collection was strewn about the ground, some discs out of their cases, others cracked. The television looked as if someone threw a shoe through it, and the couch cushions were thrown haphazardly in the corner. The floor lamp lay shattered across the floor, and I silently thanked my father for detesting carpet.

I was about to sprint upstairs to inspect the damage there, when the white-painted door to the basement caught my eye. I quickly jiggled the handle, and thank _god_ it was still locked from the inside, per usual. I didn't want to take any chances, though, and teleported to the basement.

Everything was exactly as I left it.

Thank everything that is awesome in the world.

I teleported up to the second floor and sprinted through my open bedroom door. More things were scattered, another lamp smashed, but my laptop and jewelry were all there.

_This wasn't an average robbery…if it was a robbery at all. _I thought, trying to calm my racing heart. There wasn't any damage but some cabinets and the broken lamps (except for my poor movie collection), and nothing seemed stolen.

Then I registered the fact that my bed was made.

I immediately started panicking again, the blood pounding in my ears. I never made my bed. Never _ever_. Not unless there were guests. And the last time I had been home was before Dick and I's trip to New York. I had fallen asleep that night reading _Frankenstein_; I left it on the bed that morning. I hadn't bothered with putting it on the nightstand where it belonged.

But the bed was made with military precision. And on the center sat a white lily.

My brother's worn book was nowhere to be seen. And that – that just screamed that something was utterly, terribly _wrong._

I thrust my hand into my boot and fished out my phone with numb, shaking fingers, dialing the number I had memorized the moment it had been given to me.

"Hello?" Dick's voice was warm. I felt a wave of comfort wash over me for a moment, dulling my panic of my house being broken into and trashed for long enough to choke out a response.

"You need to get over here. Now." I said, my voice breaking a little towards the end.

"Renee, what's wrong?" Dick asked, trying to keep his tone even, but I could hear the urgency. There was shuffling in the background – he wasn't going to wait for my answer to start moving.

"Someone broke in, ransacked the house." My words cracked a little more, but I heard Dick's sharp intake of breath.

"Stay put. I'm on my way." He ordered into the phone, and I made a small noise of understanding. I listened to the dial tone for nearly a solid minute before hanging up and flying down the stairs, sinking onto the bottom step. I stared at the door and waited for Dick, trying to ignore the fact that my heart was beating at a rate way too fast to be healthy and my hands were shaking like I was stranded in the arctic.

_**So, I kinda had this as two chapters. The fluffy one and then the other one, but I morphed them together because it would have been awkward going back to having less than 1000 words for a chapter, because after the point that I cut off the point of view switches. So YAY FLUFF and YAY SUSPENSE and YAY VID IS ACTUALLY MOVING FORWARD WITH THE MAIN PLOT THANK GOD IT TOOK ME LONG ENOUGH.**_

_**Before anyone asks, "Belt of Doom" just came to me as I was writing, and I felt like it was something Renee would make up and Dickiebird would get a kick out of.**_

_**Also yay for me getting back to a point of view that I can go all-out in. I'm still extremely nervous about posting anything not from Dick or Renee's POV.**_

_**So yeah. **_

_**I would appreciate it extremely if you reviewed, because honestly, what author doesn't love a good review. **_

_**Oh, and Guest Raven, are you sure you didn't read my mind…or the BL outline saved to my computer? Because that was scarily good that you suggested something that was along the lines of my established plans. **_

_**Word Counts:  
>This Chapter: 2,550<br>Total: 24,069**_

_**SAHW,  
>Vid.<strong>_


	13. Chapter 13

_**Halfway point. Made me want to never, ever write this chapter. Sorry. Marching band took over life – still is. But I've still been writing every day for you. ….only to erase it the next time I sit down.**_

* * *

><p><span>Breaking Light: Chapter 13:<span>  
>~Robin's POV~<p>

"_He looks," Simon had once said to Isabelle, "like he's thinking about something deep and meaningful, but if you ask him what it is, he'll punch you in the face." - Cassandra Clare, City of Fallen Angels_

I shouldered Renee's thick wooden door open and burst in. I heard rather than felt the crunch of glass under my feet. Someone had ransacked the house all right – they were looking for something. My eyes flickered over to a dark form on the stairs. Renee. She had managed to wrap her arms around her knees so tightly that I had barely registered she was there at all. I ran to her, crouching down so that our heads were level. Her eyes were so dark they were almost black, and stared sightlessly at the wall in front of her. I held my breath for a moment to make sure she was still breathing. Satisfied she was, I reached out a gloved hand and placed it on her knee.

"Renee?" I said quietly. She looked as if she was in a state of utter shock, gone from the world; I wasn't sure if she was even _seeing _me as I squatted in front of her. She blinked slowly, and I watched as she brought her eyes back into focus.

"Dick." Her voice cracked, jaw clamping shut. I could physically _see _how hard she was trying not to cry. I pulled myself onto the step next to her and wrapped my arms around my shadow, shielding her as best I could from the world around us. She buried her face into the crook of my neck.

"Oh, darling," I cooed, "it's okay. I called Wally; the team is on their way. We're going to find this guy. I'm not gonna let him hurt you." I started to stroke her soft chocolate hair, hoping that my words of comfort were enough. A slight shudder ran through her.

"The team is on their way," I repeated again, "we'll find them." She nodded into me, small fingers gripping tight on my shoulders.

"_Frankenstein_," I heard her whisper, "all they took was _Frankenstein_."

"All this for a book?" I murmured aloud, letting my cheek rest on the crown of her head. We lapsed into silence and waited for the others to arrive.

A yellow blur burst through the open front door a few minutes later, Wally immediately stopping in front of us.

_She okay?_ He mouthed. I gave him a look. Of course she wasn't.

_**You**__ okay?_ That one, I didn't know the answer to.

"Roy, Conner, Megan and Artemis are on their way. They took the bio-ship." Wally finally spoke. I tensed at the mention of Wally's girlfriend, but the speedster didn't seem to notice.

Renee lifted her head slightly, puffy eyes trained on Wally.

"Wally?" My suit muffled her voice.

"Yeah, Shadow?"

"Can you get me some water?" Wally nodded immediately.

"No problem." He picked his way down the hallway.

"Well, at least we know he can be sensitive." I muttered under my breath. I felt Renee laugh silently in my arms, fighting the urge to sigh in relief. Laughter was a good sign.

A very good sign, considering I was getting worried that everything going on would have a negative effect on her.

I am her boyfriend, after all.

I have those rights.

Wally must have picked up on my mounting agitation, because after returning with a glass of water, he said, "Why don't you guys hang out side? Get some air. We'll search for bugs and stuff once the others get here."

As he spoke, the others burst through the door, all in battle-ready stances.

Renee just stood slowly, not looking at any of them. I rose with her, keeping my left hand at the small of her back, guiding her past the team and onto the washed red brick steps outside.

"You want to talk?" I asked tentatively, silently cursing at how ridiculous I sounded. I needed to learn how to talk to people with emotions. That wasn't something that Bruce covered.

"I just don't understand." She whispered, leaning her head on my shoulder. The fingers of her left hand tapped patterns relentlessly on her thigh. I took her free hand with both of my own.

"Then we'll figure it out. In the meantime, I think Batman will agree with me when I say that I think you should stay at the mansion." Her hand tightened on mine.

"I'm going to, even if he doesn't want me to. I think I'll have to refurnish this whole place before I go back to living in it." She kept her voice light, but I knew she wouldn't be able to stop thinking about what she saw for a long time yet.

"Hey Renee, did you see…oh sorry." Wally said suddenly from behind us, accompanied by a gust of wind.

"The lily? Yeah, I did. Whoever it was stole a book and left it there." Renee finished without looking over at the redhead.

"You're missing a book? What kind of robber steals nothing but a _book_?" Wally exclaimed in disbelief before running back inside.

We sat in silence for a while after that, Renee still tapping patterns on her leg, me playing with her fingers.

The purr of an engine and the slam of a car door brought me back to earth. I lifted my head to find my foster father staring down at me.

"Batman?" I felt Renee shift next to me. That got her attention.

"Nightshadow, pack a bag. You'll be staying somewhere temporarily. Robin, gather the others. Go to the Cave. The League will take things from here." His clipped, strained tone stopped me from protesting. It was obvious he was hiding something.

_Maybe this is connected to something bigger than we thought._ I wondered as Renee and I dutifully marched up the stairs to pack her a bag and get the team.

"Batman wants us to go to the Cave. This is officially 'League Business'." I announced when in earshot of the five investigating teens.

"What? That's ridiculous. This has to do with our teammate, and we're getting kicked to the curb?" Roy exclaimed, Artemis nodding feverously from his left.

I dragged a duffel from Renee's closet, sitting it down on the bed. I slipped my phone from my pocket.

"Yeah, well," _**click**_, "I would say that they'll keep us updated. But we know how adults are." I stashed my phone back as Renee handed me a pile of folded clothes.

Artemis rounded on Renee, "You're _okay_ with this?" The smaller girl just shrugged and handed me more things to pack away.

"I'd rather them do it, actually." I watched as everyone's eyes widened in various stages of disbelief.

"Why?" Conner barked. I glared at him.

"I'm emotionally compromised. I don't have a very good track record there." Her tone was surprisingly even, but as I caught Renee's gaze, I knew _exactly _what she was remembering.

"No one can blame you for that." I said immediately, but she was already shaking her head.

"Still emotionally compromised, dear." She quietly responded, her hand resting momentarily on my forearm. I got the message – _not now._

* * *

><p>"It's not fair." Artemis kept repeating as we flew back to the Cave in the bio-ship. I just sighed inwardly and held Renee's hand.<p>

But silently I was fuming. Who did this guy think he was, trashing Renee's house like that? She must have sensed my tension (or it was more apparent than I thought) because she gently squeezed my hand, dark eyes blinking up at me.

"I don't understand. Why would someone want to take this book?" Megan spoke up for the first time since the team's arrival at Renee's house. Renee's eyes fluttered shut for a moment, fingers pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Because it was important to him." She said lowly. I gripped her hand tighter and sucked in a breath.

"To who?" Artemis questioned, eyebrows raised.

I resisted the urge to get up from my chair and deck her. _Is she thick?_ I thought furiously. I heard Renee sigh from my side and rub her thumb over the back of my hand.

"To Logan. My brother. This shit – all of it – is about him. It's always about him. The book was his."

* * *

><p><em><strong>Another chapter. Another hiatus for YJ. I feel like banging my head against the wall. <strong>_

_**Review, you know, the usual. **_

_**Word Counts:  
>This Chapter: 1,393<br>Total: 25,462**_

_**SAHW,  
>Vid.<strong>_


	14. Chapter 14

Breaking Light: Chapter 14:  
>~Kaldur's POV~<p>

"_It's easy to get rid of people, Christophe. All you have to do is rely on them." ― Lili St. Crow, __Jealousy_

I arrived back from Atlantis to an empty Cave, save one _very_ angry-looking Zatanna.

"Zatanna, where are the others?" I asked, walking towards the dark-haired girl.

"Off saving Renee again." She scoffed. My eyes widened with concern.

"What happened?"

"Her house got broken into. Or something. I dunno." Zatanna supplied, inspecting her nails. I had come under the impression that, over the past few days, the magician had been conducting a silent protest against all of us. Her chilly behavior confirmed my suspicions.

"And you did not go with them?" I said as calmly as I could.

"Of course not." She scoffed, and flung herself down onto the couch. I heard the patter of multiple footsteps from down the hall moments before the team appeared, sullen and silent. Renee stood in the middle of them, held onto by Robin probably more tightly than was comfortable. The entire group seemed to be surrounding her, protecting her.

"Hello." I make my presence known to the oblivious team. Seven heads whipped to the left, six pairs of eyes suddenly trained on me. Renee was looking at the floor.

"Someone is going after Nightshadow because of her brother…again." Wally announced into air thick with tension.

"Which is why you are going to go recon an abandoned warehouse in Happy Harbor. Citizens have been reporting strange lights and sounds. It could potentially be something." The intimidating form of Batman seemed to materialize from the shadows.

I watched as Robin's face twisted into a scowl, "How does this have to do with Nightshadow?"

"It doesn't." Batman responded, and I would have sworn on Atlantis that the corner of his mouth quirked upwards before he turned and left. We all stood in silence for a minute, staring at the place where Batman had been standing.

"Well, let's go then." Zatanna broke the silence, standing up from the couch and brushing past the group still surrounding Renee on her way to the bio-ship.

"Zatanna's right." Renee agreed quietly, trailing after the magician. As if her voice had lifted a spell, we all moved to follow the small girl.

"I'll link us up now." M'gann said cheerfully once we were in the bio-ship. The plan was simple – park on the roof, and inspect the building in stealth-mode. Don't attack unless attacked. I was charged with the watching of Zatanna. Not officially, but I felt that it was my responsibility as leader to keep tabs on the most reckless member of the team. We landed on the roof of the warehouse. Everything creaked – the doors, the floor, even the walls. This was going to be a bit more difficult than we had originally thought.

"_Let's split up." _I suggested, to which I got various forms of agreement. I pulled out my water-bearers and began inspecting the top floor, keeping as best I could to the shadows without touching anything. The floor was littered with trash and scrap – leftovers from previous owners and the graffiti of rebellious teenagers.

"_Guys this is pointless. Nothing's here." _Zatanna thought angrily twenty minutes later.

"_Yeah, it was a total red herring. A distraction, even." _Roy agreed.

I sighed to myself, rubbing at the space between my eyes.

"_Let's just get out of here. We'll tell stupid Batman we can't find anything." _ Zatanna suggested. Roy, Wally, and Artemis suggested their agreement. I waited for a moment, sure that the Boy Wonder would come to his mentor's defense. When no snide defensive remark came, I felt unease settling in my stomach.

"_Robin? Nightshadow? What are your thoughts?" _I projected the thought as calmly as I could. No response.

"_Rob?" _Kid Flash echoed, _"Rob where are you guys? If you're making out in a corner, gross dude." _I could practically feel the speedster's mounting worry.

"_Conner!?" _ Miss Martian, previously quiet, mentally exclaimed with such force that I felt the beginnings of a headache.

"_What happened?" _I asked urgently.

"_He was just in the room next to mine – and now he's gone! And there was only one exit! I was looking right at it! Something's happened to Conner!" _

"_Oh, crap. Great. So Batman led us into a trap. Just peachy. Superboy, Robin, and Nightshadow are probably dead." _ Zatanna said, words laced with venom.

"_Now is not the time to be pessimistic, Zatanna. I am sure that the others are fine." _I said immediately, trying to diffuse her anger and calm my team.

"**Wally!"** I heard Artemis' shriek of terror from floors away.

This was most definitely not good.

"_What happened? Is he gone?" _I asked. No response.

"_Guys? Anyone? Is the link down?" _

The link was down.

That meant that Miss Martian had been compromised somehow. Somewhere in the building were Artemis, Zatanna, and Red Arrow, _assuming that they have not been taken already._

I swept my gaze around the room I was in. Should I stay here, where it was clear? Or should I go find the others?

…Was I even contemplating that choice?

I started for the door into the next room. This floor seemed to have been offices, which did not work to my advantage. It was easier for the unknown assailant to hide when there were so many half-walls and an abundance of sheet-covered furniture.

_Artemis' scream seemed to have come from below me. The stairs aren't that far away._

That was the last thought I had before I felt something heavy and solid collide with the back of my skull and I hit the floor, my vision fading to black.

* * *

><p><em><strong>Important filler. Huzzah. I apologize to the probably like, two of you still aware that this story exists. <strong>_

_**Word Counts:  
>This Chapter: 944<br>Total: 26,406**_

_**SAHW,  
>Vid.<strong>_


	15. Chapter 15

Breaking Light: Chapter 15:  
>~Renee's POV~<p>

"_I think, therefore I am, dangerous."  
>― D.A. Hanks, <em>_Green Day - A Novel of U.N. Totalitarian Control_

I awoke to the painfully bright glow of a fluorescent work light.

"Urgh, turn that thing off." I mumbled and began to turn over. A sharp pain radiated from the base of my skull when I attempted to turn my head, and it all came rushing back to me. I had been ambushed and knocked out cold. In an abandoned warehouse. With a lead pipe. Sounds like some sort of twisted _Clue_ mystery.

I groaned through the pain and pushed myself up onto my elbows. I was lying on a hard concrete floor with an excruciating headache. I blinked black spots from my eyes and gingerly took in my surroundings. Immediately I recognized (albeit my lack of vision made it more like a giant blur) a graffiti demon-trapping sigil spray painted in front of the nearest door.

_Okay, so they knocked me out and proceeded to keep me in the same warehouse…? _That was confusing. The others would have surely found me by now; I was out in the open. Unless they were attacked, too, and now Rob was bleeding out in some far corner of this _thoroughly _abandoned warehouse (thanks Batsy). _Oh, god, Dick – _

A groan from behind me jerked me from my thoughts. I whipped around, instantly regretting it. "Owww." I muttered under my breath, reaching up with one hand to feel the back of my head. I couldn't feel any blood, but that didn't mean that there was none.

_Wait. I'm not bound? _ I looked at my hands, then my feet. _I'm not bound! Whoever this guy is, he's an idiot._

I rubbed at the back of my not-bloody, just-sore head and willed myself to focus on whatever (or whoever) had groaned.

"Ugh…totally _not _asterous." I heard from my left. I turned in that direction

"Robin?" I asked hopefully, my voice croaking a bit so I sounded like a drunken frog. Great.

"Shadow? You okay?" He asked, and my vision finally cleared to see him a couple feet away, rubbing at his head and looking at me with concern.

"Yeah, fine. Some ass made me the victim in a _Clue_ game, but I'm fine." I assured him lightly, which earned a chuckle. Training my gaze on my surroundings, I found that the entire team was in various stages of consciousness on the floor around me.

"What happened to us?" I wondered aloud.

Kaldur sat up stiffly across the room, and answered, "It seems we were bested."

"More like out-stealthed. I didn't even hear anything! Then _wham!_ and I'm here. And I'm hungry." Wally complained, and I watched as he attempted to stand, groaning all the way.

"Don't strain yourself there, KF. I'm pretty sure we all have concussions." I said, finally managing to draw myself into a fully-sitting position.

"Yeah, Nightshadow's right, Kid Idiot. You're gonna fall over and hurt yourself more." Artemis barked from where she was sitting in between Kaldur and Roy, the latter of whom was counting his arrows and looking royally pissed over the whole ordeal.

"Is everyone here?" M'gann chimed in, straining to keep her voice cheery.

"Nightshadow present." I announced.

"Robin."

"Aqualad."

"Artemis. And Kid Flash."

"Red Arrow. Nothing seems to have been stolen from me."

"Zatanna. No thanks to any of you."

"Superboy."

"Well, at least none of us were kidnapped." I commented as positively as I could. I stretched out my back and stood up. Surprisingly enough, the pain had weakened to a dull throb, and felt almost-fine.

Artemis looked up at the ceiling with unfocused eyes, "Oh, I am _so _not doing four flights of stairs."

"I think I can teleport everyone. I actually feel almost normal." I said, ignoring Dick's worried gaze as I made my way over to Artemis. Halfway across the room, however, I felt something get crushed under my left boot. I immediately lifted my foot and inspected the ground.

"Shit." I swore, my stomach dropping.

"What is it?" Robin instantly asked.

I bent over, picking up what I had stepped on by the long, green stem. Turning around to face him, I held it out for all to see.

"A white lily. Still fresh." There was an audible gasp.

"Well, shit." Roy bit out angrily.

Kaldur looked at me with confusion, "I do not understand…"

"A white lily was left at my house, too." I quickly supplied, and the Atlantean nodded his understanding, expression clearing.

"Uh, guys…?" Wally called, the tone of his voice making me turn. His eyes were trained at the floor beneath my feet. I looked down, and my breath caught in my throat.

"What? What is it?" Artemis asked impatiently.

"A lily's not the only thing this guy left." Wally responded, still staring at the ground. I took a few steps backwards. There was part of a word where I had been standing, sprayed on in black paint. Looking around, I saw that the entire floor was covered, too big to be read from the ground. I looked up to the ceiling, where a catwalk stretched the length of the large space we had woken up in.

"Clever bastard." I muttered, and teleported onto the catwalk.

"So your stoic leader thought I'm not a serious enough matter? We'll see how he likes me now, won't we, kiddies? Hope you like my flowers – I got them just for you. See you soon." I read aloud, ignoring the slight shake of my voice. I gulped. The air was heavy with fear – my fear, YJ's fear – and it hung around me like a thick, scratchy blanket. Too warm and too rough to be comfortable. When no one commented on the message, I looked over at the team, who were staring up at me. My eyes immediately sought Dick's, and our gazes locked.

"We _so _have to go back to the Cave." Zatanna broke the silence, and for once, I couldn't agree with her more.

We walked into the main room of the Cave to find that we weren't alone. Batman, Superman, Black Canary, Green Arrow, and Martian Manhunter were standing there, awaiting our return.

"Thanks for the welcoming party, guys. Would've used your help like, an hour ago." Roy murmured from behind me, and I had to let go of Dick's hand to stifle my giggles.

"What did you find?" Batman demanded after glaring at the red-haired archer for a solid thirty seconds.

_We got knocked unconscious, no thanks to you. _I thought, irritation pooling in the pit of my stomach. I knew my anger was displaced, but the sick-o _did_ call the Bat out, after all.

"We were ambushed one by one, knocked unconscious. When we came to, there was a message written on the ground calling you out, and also this." Robin surmised for us, holding up the lily when he finished. Batman's expression didn't change, but the other Leaguer's eyes widened with shock.

"I see. Arrow, Manhunter, you two will come with me to inspect the warehouse. Canary, make sure they don't have concussions. Superman, go back to the Watchtower and tell the others." Batman commanded, and just like that, the League spilt up. Canary pulled a first-aid kit from the infirmary and checked us all over, one by one.

"Well, guys, it seems like you all somehow managed to avoid concussions. Just don't do anything for the rest of the day, and get a good night's sleep."Canary announced twenty minutes later. I called my thanks from the kitchen as she was leaving, where I was searching for some yogurt.

"How can you two be hungry? We were just ambushed!" Artemis exclaimed in mock disgust. Wally and I just looked each other with grins stretched across our faces.

"What?" Wally asked innocently, purposely shoving food in his mouth before responding. Artemis just rolled her eyes and stomped into the other room.

"Guys! Come look at this!" Robin yelled from the other room. Wally and I were there in an instant, where the rest of the team was glued to the television screen. On it was a live feed of a burning building. Scrolling across the bottom in large white letters was: 'Abandoned Happy Harbor Warehouse Randomly Catches Fire'.

"Weren't we _just _there?" I asked incredulously, knowing the answer but asking anyway. Dick threaded our fingers together and squeezed my hand.

"Yeah. Yeah we were." He answered darkly.

"Well, shit."

* * *

><p><em><strong>I'm writing as many chapters as I can this weekend as compensation instead of writing the English paper and studying for a major Chem test that are both on Monday. You're welcome. <strong>_

_**Reviews are appreciated.**_

_**Word Counts:  
>This Chapter: 1,414<br>Total: 27,820**_

SAHW,  
>Vid.<p> 


	16. Chapter 16

_**To those of you still reading; thanks. It's been a rough school year so far. I'm currently procrastinating a good two hour's worth of US History work. **_

_**My sincerest apologies.**_

* * *

><p><span>Breaking Light: Chapter 16:<span>  
>~Robin's POV~<p>

_It seems essential, in relationships and all tasks, that we concentrate only on what is most significant and important. -Soren Kierkegaard_

This, as Renee would put it, royally sucked. Bruce's lower, 'Batman voice' was tinny in my ear, letting me know that the reports of a fire started coming in after we had returned but before they left, and that they were on their way back to Mount Justice.

But honestly, I was just pissed off. This guy – whoever he was – was calling us out, calling _Renee _out, and doing random crazy shit like breaking into her house and setting a warehouse on fire.

If we had awoken a few minutes later, we would have been dead.

I knew I wasn't the only one thinking this. I saw it in the way that Wally had instantly reached for Artemis' hand the second he entered the room and heard the television, how Megan's eyes instantly found Conner's, even though I was almost positive they were in the middle of a fight. I felt it in the way Renee slumped down next to me after I called her in, her cold hand turning clammy in mine.

_Well, shit _was what she had said. But there was so much more tacked onto the end of that sentence. _Well, shit there goes our lead. Well, shit we could have died. Well, shit this guy's more serious than we thought. _

"Change the channel. Someone, please." Artemis said, her rough voice barely rising above the monotone report. Kaldur obediently grabbed the remote and pressed a button, the television changing to an old black and white film.

We sat in various degrees of awareness for what seemed like eternity but really were only the few minutes that it took Batman, Green Arrow, and Martian Manhunter to return. When the zeta-tubes announced their arrival, Miss M immediately flew to her Uncle, the latter enveloping her in a tight hug. Artemis and Roy both turned to look at GA, who gave them a slight nod. I saw carefully controlled relief flash across both young archers' faces. I, myself, stood and turned to face my surrogate father.

The Dark Knight took this as his cue to speak, "This adversary is more dangerous than we originally thought. Relax, get some sleep, we will resume our search tomorrow. I advise that you do not leave Mount Justice." He turned to me before he left, a slight grimace on his face. I nodded slightly, which he returned.

I took that as, _take Renee to the Manor_. Which may have been wrong, but I had a theory which required the equipment in the Batcave. And I'd be damned if I let my Shadow from my sight.

Arrow and Manhunter followed Batman's lead and left a few minutes later. No doubt to have a League meeting at the Watchtower. Because that seemed to be all that they did nowadays. There were days where I didn't even see Bruce because he was spending the entirety of his spare time in space.

There was a point in time where I would have found that thought entirely too amusing. But not now.

Once the Leaguers had left, we had slipped into an uncomfortable silence. Wally, ever the light-hearted, suggested that the team play truth or dare. Renee looked at me with wide emerald eyes.

"_No way in hell." _The look obviously said. I stood up silently and tugged her hand, heading towards the zeta-tubes.

"Hey, guys, where you going?" Wally asked. I froze mid-step. _Shit. So close._

"Batcave." I called without looking over my shoulder. The silence I got in return was a good enough a response for me, and I continued walking.

"Is that where we're really going, or a spur-of-the-moment, get-nosy-West-off-our-backs answer?" Renee whispered once we were far enough away.

"Really going." I responded, punching a few buttons to set the destination. I began to walk into the light, but when my left hand was met with resistance, I turned back.

"You coming?" I teased with a smirk. Renee blinked, as if she was snapping out of a daze, and nodded.

"Yeah, yeah, 'course." She said, a smile stretching across her face.

When we arrived in the Batcave, I instantly strode across the room and picked up the pink duffel bag that somehow had made it here from Renee's house earlier today. _Jeez, it was still today?_ I felt like a week had passed.

"So, Alfred has this new rule that the only suits that are allowed upstairs are business suits, so you'll have to change. Bathroom's over there." I pointed to my right and handed a slightly-awed Renee the bag.

"You Bats never cease to amaze me." I heard her mutter as she walked away wide-eyed, drinking in the fortress that was the Batcave. I quickly stripped out of my own suit, and was shrugging on a sweatshirt when Renee emerged in a pair of jeans and a faded white t-shirt with "Eric Foreman is my spirit animal" in faded letters.

"Spirit animal?" I asked incredulously. Renee stuck her tongue out at me.

"Shuddup. It was Logan's." She grumbles, and I sling her bag over my shoulder, using my other hand to steer her towards the secret panel door that would lead to the elevator that would lead to the rest of the house.

Alfred was immediately there, asking Renee if she was hungry while holding a plate of cookies. She declined, but I took a handful. Hey, crazy shit going down or not, I wasn't going to pass up on Alfred's cookies.

I led my Shadow to a spare bedroom, where she teleported onto the bed as soon as I opened the door. She watched silently as I dropped her bag and kicked off my shoes, flopping down beside her.

She waited until I got comfortable, and then, "Why is it always me?"

My brain snapped into focus, already halfway through a list of reasons why before my mouth caught up to answer:

"I don't know. Guess you drew the lucky straw." I chuckled as she gently hit my chest. Turning my head a bit, I caught the tail end of an eye-roll, "But really, I don't know."

"I know you don't. But I feel better asking." She said honestly, and I wrapped an arm around her, pulling her close.

"I mean, why come out of the woodwork _now? _It's been years…" She trailed off, staring at where she was playing idly with the hem of my sweatshirt, but not really _seeing_. Just staring, distant, deep in her mind. I dragged my fingers through her soft chocolate hair, debating with myself on whether or not to pull her out of her thoughts.

_You don't want her to hurt remembering, _I reasoned, _but she might remember something that could help us find this guy._

She decided for me, "Do you have both flowers?"

"I have image representations." I told her, reaching for my phone with the hand that wasn't imbedded in her hair.

"Can I see?"

"Working on it…here." I handed her the phone. I watched with curiosity as she flicked back and forth between the photos, studying the glass rectangle intently. Suddenly, she broke into a wide grin and shoved my phone under my nose.

"Look!" she exclaimed. I gingerly pulled her hand back so I could see as she slid her finger across the screen to show me the next photo.

"What am I looking for?" I grunted, squinting a little to try and catch what she saw.

"White lilies. When I was little my Aunt used to always have a vase of them sitting on her kitchen table. She told me that there was a special way to cut the stems that some people think makes them last longer. _That's how they're cut._" She explained animatedly, pointing to the stems as she did so.

"So, our burglar-arsonist is your Aunt?" I teased, raising an eyebrow.

"No, Bird Boy, I'm saying whoever it is knows their stuff. Like, works-at-a-florist's knowledge here." She said, rolling her eyes again.

I nodded slowly, "Good. That's good. That can get us somewhere. Too bad there are probably two dozen florists in Gotham. And they could've just googled it." I instantly regretted my words as Renee visibly deflated. She obviously hadn't thought of the internet, "But it's a start. A _good _one."

She smiled a little again at my quick amendment, settling back down so that her head rested on my chest. I reached over and grabbed a remote off of the nightstand, turning on the television.

We were halfway through a marathon of _Psych_ when Renee sat bolt upright, her hands balled into white-knuckled fists.

"What? What is it?" I asked, concerned. She looked over her shoulder at me, emerald eyes wide.

"I just remembered," she said slowly, as if she couldn't believe it, "my brother got white lilies for Valentine's Day once. His senior year."

I sat up as well at the news, my legs sliding over the side of the bed.

"Well, it looks like we're gonna pay a visit to Woolpat, McMurphy, and Bleeth," I glanced at the clock. 10:44. "_tomorrow._ We'll visit them tomorrow."

Renee looked to the clock as well, "Wow, is it really that late?"

I nodded, placing a chaste kiss on her cheek before standing and striding to the door.

"Good-night, Renee." I said softly, stepping through the doorway.

"Good-night, Dick." she replied right before the door clicked shut.

I didn't even try to fight the smile tugging at my lips.

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><p><em><strong>So, I've been writing drabbles instead of notes for the past couple of weeks, and so I think that when Breaking Light is all said and done, I'm gonna just do a drabble collection instead of like, a third full story. Cause drabbles will mostly not need the backing storyline, and I feel like people try to stay away from the like, thirdfourth/fifth installments of a story on this site. And drabbles will be easier for me to keep up with –grins sheepishly as she thinks of her x-men evo story– **_

_**But I would really, reaaaaalllllyyyyy like to know what you think. If you actually read this, please tell me! **_

_**Word Counts:  
>This Chapter: 1,597<br>Total: 29,417**_

_**SAHW,  
>Vid. <strong>_


	17. Chapter 17,More: the Final Goodbye

_**Hello. Vid here. It's been a while, hmm? And in all honesty, I don't have a great excuse for my radio silence. For my sudden stop. I feel an incredible guilt as I write this, for many of the people who read this story, followed it, and believed in me have probably also moved on, and will never read the end, never get an explanation for why I left. **_

_**But for those of you who will see this, old readers and new, here is my story:**_

_**The last time I updated, it was January 2013. I had a really shitty friend who would walk all over me, and we were constantly together, in all of our classes together, and I was wearing thin. She started treating my two best friends – my two closest friends, the ones I am closer to than my actual siblings – like absolute shit, insulting their intelligence and her friendship with me to walk all over them. I held it all in. I didn't want to tell anyone, for fear of a total fall-out of epic proportions. I stopped reading, I stopped writing, I retreated into myself. When I finally started reaching out for help, I was crying myself to sleep every night because I was scared, and angry, and upset, and lost, and I didn't know what to do. Finally, with the end of the school year and the help of some of the best friends in the whole world, I got back on my feet and back to my normal self through distancing myself from her, breaking off connection so that I could breathe again. Not the best way to handle the situation, but confrontation would not have ended well – I still had to be around her for the entirety of our senior year, due to similar class schedules and our involvement with band. **_

_**That summer, I made some of the best memories. I went new places, tried new things, and had a lot of fun. In the process, I got back into my hobbies, the things I loved besides band – writing, reading, learning new things, etc – but fanfic took the backburner in favor of new projects, new ideas. And then I got a new computer and thought a lot of my files were lost, and then I found them again, and then it just escaped my mind. **_

_**But that is unfair to the readers. Unfair that I have content, I have it all planned out, and I haven't even shared it. It's true, yes, that I'm not going to keep writing this. I don't have the inspiration for it anymore. I love Young Justice, but I've moved on to other fandoms. Most of my work is originals now, and the fanfic I do write is a completely different thing than what is posted on this account. And to finish writing this story at the level I'm at now would be a crime without re-writing what has already been written – both the existing chapters of BL and all of Nightshadow. It just wouldn't be fair. And this is the only one of my fics that I still have files for, still have work that can be posted.**_

_**And now that I've graduated high school, and closed a chapter of my life, I'd like to tie up the loose ends I've left in other places, in this story. **_

_**So I have three things in this "chapter" – First is the first part of chapter 17, still unfinished, unedited since January 2013. Second, my timeline for the story that had been set up from the beginning. And third, the epilogue of BL, that hasn't been touched in nearly two years. Enjoy.**_

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><p><span>Breaking Light: Chapter 17:<span>  
>~Renee's POV~<p>

_You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him. -Leo Aikman_

I awoke to the smell of pancakes. Sure enough, once I got the will to open my eyes, Dick was standing there in street clothes, a pile of golden pancakes sitting next to my face on the nightstand.

"Good morning." I mumbled, rubbing the sleep from my eyes. My boyfriend returned the greeting and sat by my feet as I ate pancakes.

"You know I'm not gonna eat this much, right?" I said in between bites of fluffy goodness. The unmasked Boy Wonder chuckled.

"Alfred's doing." I nodded in understanding. Of course Alfred would try to feed little, thirteen-year-old me enough for a linebacker.

Two hours later, Dick and I were standing in front of Woolpat, McMurphy, and Bleeth's secretary.

"I told you, Woolpat and Bleeth were friends of my brother. Logan Knight? Ever heard of him?" I clawed a hand through my hair in frustration.

"No. Now I'll tell you nicely _one_ more time – you cannot see Misters Woolpat, McMurphy, or Bleeth without an appointment." The secretary said, her too-c lose-together eyes looking me up and down with obvious distaste.

"There's a picture of him on the wall _right behind you_!" I nearly shouted, gesturing to the wall where there was, in fact, a framed photo of my brother with the lawyers. The pinched-face secretary slammed her pen down on the desk.

"Very funny, _little girl_. Now why don't you _children_ run along before I call security?" She snapped.

A thin, reedy voice sailed from around the corner, "What is going on, Patricia?"

Pinched-face – Patricia – glared at me before responding:

"Nothing, Mr. Woolpat. Just some kids causing trouble." I heard a chair being rolled back, then the sound of muffled footfalls.

"Renee! How nice to see you again! Come here, my dear. Don't mind Patricia – she's a bit crabby." Woolpat said, coming towards me with open arms as he turned the corner. I laughed, hugging him back slightly.

"I wish this was a nice visit, Mr. Woolpat." I responded, sighing. His eyes widened.

"Oh. Well, come in, come in. McMurphy and Bleeth are off on cases, but we can chat. What's going on?" Dick and I trailed after the thin, mousey man as he hurried off towards his corner office.

Dick shut the door behind him, sighed, and said, "Do you happen to remember anything about Logan Knight and white lilies?"

"Why, yes, it was that Kathy girl….no, Katie. No! Katherine! That's it! Her name was Katherine! Weird girl, they dated for a little bit, on-and-off. Nothing serious. She was nuts, though. Pined after your brother for years before he finally accepted her advances." I looked at Dick, his wide-eyed shock mirroring mine.

Dick immediately went into detective-mode, "Do you remember anything about her? Hair color, last name, interests? Was she related to say, a florist or a gardener in any way?"

"Why, yes, actually. If I remember right, her mother was a florist. Katherine herself excelled in science. Wanted to be an engineer. Mechanical. No, biochemical. No, that wasn't it either. Maybe something with computers? I can't seem to remember. I'm sorry, kids. I'm probably not much help." Woolpat sighed, dejected. I patted his hand.

"No, Mr. Woolpat. You've been a great help. Would you mind too terribly if we borrow your high school yearbook?" Woolpat visibly brightened, nodding. He practically skipped to the bookshelf tucked into the back corner of his office, eyes scanning over the spines for a moment before pulling out a tall, thin book with a flourish.

"Here you go! Take your time with it. I don't need it anytime soon."

I took the book from his outstretched hands with a smile, "thanks, Mr. Woolpat. We'll bring it back when we're done."

Woolpat hugged me again, tight, like I was gonna slip away. Then he bid us a final goodbye. Dick and I left the building quickly, passing Patricia's small-eyed glare without a second look and pausing only to wait for the elevator. Once we were out on the street, I turned to the Boy Wonder, bouncing slightly on the balls of my feet.

"This is fantastic! A real, solid lead." I squealed as I took his hand, dragging him into an empty alleyway before teleporting us to the nearest zeta-tube.

We arrived back at the Cave to find everyone waiting for us expectantly.

"What have you two been doing all morning? Kaldur tried calling you guys fifteen minutes ago!" Artemis accused, looking down at me. I knew I should be at the very least a _little _guilty for not responding – or even getting the call to begin with – but I was too excited.

"We've got a lead! Rob and I went to talk to an old friend of my brother's, and we got a lead! A girl named Katherine." I announced, beaming up at Artemis. I didn't even care that she still hadn't forgiven me for the thing with Wally. There was a lead, for the first time since the Hacker showed up.

To my disappointment, the others didn't seem as excited as I was. Roy sighed and asked first, "A girl? Wasn't the Hacker sort of…male?"

"And this isn't our mission anymore." Zatanna snapped. I frowned.

"But this is a lead. We can help." I insisted.

"Says the girl that was too _emotionally compromised_ yesterday." Artemis said snidely. I let my shoulders sag, my gaze dropped to the floor.

"Yeah. We better tell Batman." I muttered, pushing past Artemis and heading towards the den. There was a gust of air, and then I saw Wally's sneakers in my line of vision.

"No, c'mon, Renee. Let's take a look. We don't want Batsy to have to go on a wild goose chase, do we?" The speedster chirped, obviously trying to be the mediator. I looked up at him and smiled wanly.

"Okay." I said, sitting down on the couch and opening Woolpat's yearbook.

"So, apparently, Logan briefly dated a florist's daughter his senior year. Her name was Katherine. And she was really good at sciencey stuff. So like, hacking." I told Wally as he sat down next to me. But I said it loud enough for the rest of the team to hear. Rob sat on my other side, pulling up his supercomputer.

"From the index, it looks like there were only four girls named Katherine in Logan's grade." Wally commented, pointing at the page.

"Read me their names."

"Katherine Algerbright, Katherine Rogers, Katherine Striker, and Katherine Zilder." I read dutifully. Dick typed the names in and scanned the information that popped up.

"Well, I've got good news and bad news. The good news is that one of these Katherines went into science after graduating. The bad news is, she's been in space for the past three months and won't land back on earth until July."

I closed the book with a snap, my smile fading. The lead was too good to pan out. I slumped down into the couch cushions, sighing.

"This royally sucks."

* * *

><p><em><strong>This is all I have left of the chapters. Next is outline of the remaining chapters (with basic summaries and quote(s) for each chapter):<strong>_

* * *

><p>BREAKING LIGHT OUTLINE (chapters 17-epilogue)<p>

17: Renee's POV. Dick and Renee go to the lawyers; they tell about a "Katherine girl" that Logan dated briefly. they search through the yearbook and find four girls named Katherine_ You can tell more about a person by what he says about others than you can by what others say about him. ~Leo Aikman_

18: Artemis' POV. Artemis talks to Wally about secrets; he says he understands (she'll say it when she's ready, blah blah blah); they get a call from batsy about a breakin at star labs they should investigate. _"We always see our worst selves. Our most vulnerable selves. We need someone else to get close enough to tell us we're wrong. Someone we trust." ― David Levithan, __Naomi and Ely's No Kiss List _

19: Renee's POV. The team all goes to Star Labs; nothing is taken from labs; Wally finds the Frankenstein book left with a white lily and a note; "He took it from me. Said he'd keep it in the safest place, his favorite place, but it's not here"; Wally starts acting a little off. _"You pretend to create and observe when you really detach from feeling alive – perhaps it's because I'm the one of us, to survive" –Jonathan Larson, RENT_

20: Robin's POV. Renee racks her brain for what that might mean (see quotes in chap 20); Dick gets suspicious of Wally; a lead on the flowers at the Batcave lead them to a middle-class Gotham flower shop, but they go in civvies; "Recognize me, Renee Knight? Or should I say Nightshadow? I was your brother's last girlfriend. You may know me as Katherine." _"He who knows how to flatter also knows how to slander." ― Napoleon Bonaparte_

21: Renee's POV. Renee doesn't remember her; Katherine gets mad; says Renee has her tech' Logan took it' she just wants it back; that's why she chipped Zatanna; to try and find the tech; but she lost control of Z's chip; the tech's her lifes work blah blah blah; then she threatens Wally's life and exposes his chip if they don't give her the tech in twenty-four hours; she leaves. _We can't command our love, but we can our actions. -Arthur Conan Doyle _

22: Renee's POV. Team goes back to cave; Dick tries to get chip off Wally, but it shocks him; Zatanna suggests that we finish this without the League (everyone agrees); the girls try to figure out who the Katherine really is; "What if Katherine's like, a middle name or something?"; does research on it with artemis (who's silently freaking and wants to be nowhere near wally); finally comes up with the right person (although she looks a helluva lot different now); triggers flashback: "I need you to put this somewhere safe"; Renee tells everyone she knows where the tech is. _"Grief does not expire like a candle or the beacon on a lighthouse. It simply changes temperature." ― Anthony Rapp, __Without You: A Memoir of Love, Loss, and the Musical Rent_

23: Wally's POV. Renee takes them to a cemetery – her brother's grave; She explains that she had kept it and everything else he told her to "keep safe" in a box under the floorboards of her childhood home, but had it buried under his headstone when he had died; Superboy moves the headstone for her and she takes the tech (quickly describe the contents of the box) and replaces the box and Supey puts the headstone back; Lilliana Katherine Bett shows up; they give her the tech back to save Wally; "Sorry, but I can't do that"; Wally screams. _"If more of us valued food and cheer above hoarded gold, it would be a much merrier world." ― J.R.R. Tolkien_

24: Robin's POV. Renee, who now remembers the girl, tries to reason. She's not a supervillain, she's not really even bad, she's just a delusional genius former girlfriend who thinks it's all Renee's fault; Robin notices a blinking light on her neck; she summons henchmen (There's always henchmen, isn't there.) who attack the team (excluding Wally because he's on the ground in pain and Renee because she's facing off Lilliana); Lilliana pulls out a gun and tries to get to Logan's grave with her odd little tech-blaster thing; Lilliana tries to explain that she's helping him, bringing him back; says she wishes she could've gotten at the Boy Wonder since he obviously means more, but the speedster was the one to fall into her trap; she says what her tech does now that it's infused with the blaster (brings people back from the dead); Renee tries to get the control box for Wally's chip from her; she shoots Renee in the shoulder. Beginning: _"But I watch my brothers give their hearts away and I think, Don't you know better? Hearts are breakable. And I think even when you heal, you're never what you were before." ― Cassandra Clare, City of Fallen Angels_

End: "_Or maybe it's just that beautiful things are so easily broken by the world." ― Cassandra Clare, City of Fallen Angels_

25: Artemis' POV. Artemis attacks Lilliana; Kaldur demands M'gann to send a distress signal to the League; Superboy smashes the control box for Wally's chip and the tech-infused blaster, making both the chip on Wally and the chip on Lilliana fall off; Lilliana becomes hysterical, warning that the Light already started phase two; the rest restrain the henchmen; Heartfelt thingy between Dick and Renee that Artemis overhears because she's right next to them ("It hurts" "I know, just hang on" "I've never actually been shot before" "Don't worry, you'll get the opportunity again" "That's a lot of blood. Too much blood. Am I going to die?" "Yes, you'll die when you're old and decrepit and in a nursing home. You are not dying tonight. I won't let you. Just hang on." "I love you." "I love you too, just keep your eyes open. Just stay with me."); The League comes and Superman takes Renee to the Watchtower (Wally has to hold Dick back because he's not allowed to go); everyone leaves; Time jump to two weeks later; team sitting around, talking about the Light and if the tech actually would've worked; how Lilliana said it was "perfect"; Renee comes back; revealed to be her birthday (Dick makes a "now we're the same age again" comment); Dick and Renee kiss; Artemis contemplates secrets and trust, deciding that everything will work out in the end. _Sometimes superheroes are born, sometimes they are made. Sometimes they make themselves. Sometimes all it takes is will. -Anne Ursu, The Disapparation of James_

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><p><em><strong>Finally, there was the epilogue. Now, the epilogue's been written since chapter one of Breaking Light, since before the end of Nightshadow, and I remember not even wanted to save it, to delete it forever, and then the next day thinking that it was amazing. I've decided that I should include it, to satisfy those who still readwill read Nightshadow. As with Chapter 17, it's unedited from the last time I adjusted it (September 2012). Be forewarned, there's my own take on the events, and timeline of the story of Young Justice:**_

* * *

><p><span>BL Epilogue:<span>  
>Renee's POV~<p>

"I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once."  
>― John Green, <em>The Fault in Our Stars<em>

That was all four years ago. Since then, the Team gained a new member, Rocket; Roy turned out to not really be Roy, but a fake Roy that took the real one' s place (still not 100% clear on that one); some crazy mind-control shit that was even worse than Lilliana's happened to the Justice League that led to six of them not remembering sixteen hours (still don't know what they did); M'gann and Conner broke up (no surprise there, clones can't age); Zatanna – who's still kinda a bitch – and Rocket joined the Justice League; Wally and Artemis are living together and gave up the hero mantel; and I don't even know what the hell's up with Kaldur. Nearly everyone (that being, everyone except Dick, M'gann and Conner) in the Team has left and been replaced with someone new as we moved on, one by one. A brand-new team is forming or has been formed or something. I dunno, exactly. Unless Dick talks about it, I don't ask. I've been off the roster for a year now, and I must admit, it's been a culture shock. I mean, the original team was practically disbanded anyway, but being solo again, working some Gotham crime so Bats doesn't have to, it's odd. I miss being part of a team.

So when Dick walks in my back door this very afternoon, I don't even look up from the even-more-torn-up-than-before copy of Frankenstein when I greet his presence.

I do look up, however, when he doesn't respond. And what I see is not _anything_ I expected.

Dick is standing in the doorway to the living room, dressed in a completely new suit. It's sleek and black and cape-less (so is mine again, now, by the way) and it has a blue bird-thing on the chest. It shows off his taller, more muscular physique. All together, I can't help but think that it means something's wrong… Also that it makes him _extremely_ attractive.

I can say that because he's my boyfriend.

"Dick?" I finally ask tentatively, genuinely afraid of the impending explanation.

"I'm not Robin anymore" He blurts out, still not moving from the doorway.

"I can see that. Please, do not tell me this is the result of a fight with Batsy." I pinch the bridge of my nose, opting not to look at his reaction. No doubt it's a roll of the eyes. Even after (officially) knowing Bruce Wayne for two years, I still have difficulty being comfortable referring to him as Bruce.

"Kind of." Is his response, and he sounds so dejected that I open my eyes to gaze at him again.

"You didn't get kicked out, did you?" I ask warily. He knows he has a home here, but getting kicked out of the Bat Family would not do him good. He laughs, though, and I relax just a tad.

"No. But I'm moving to Blüdhaven." My jaw, literally, drops. I can feel my eyes widening, and my stomach lurches painfully.

"What?! Ohmygod, Dick, in the name of all that is awesome, why are you doing _that_? Wait, does this mean – are you – " I'm standing, and I don't know when I stood, but he's right in front of me, looking down at me. I can't tell which of us walked to who because the only thing I'm doing now is trying to imagine life without him and failing miserably. Then he presses his lips against mine and that train of thought stops abruptly. I feel all the tension I had unknowingly built up in my body dissolve.

"Calm down, my dear. Stay traught. You're jumping to conclusions. Me moving to a place that is in need of a hero does not mean anything…" he pauses, searching for the right word, "…_negative_ about us. In fact, if you had let me finish, you would have known that I want you to come with me." He smirks, snaking his arms around me as he speaks.

"Well, in my defense, you made it sound very end-of-conversation-y." I say, which makes him laugh, and it reverberates through me.

"My apologies." He responds in his best mock-posh impression.

"Can you answer my original question now?" I ask, pulling back to look at him. His smile fades a little, and he sits down on the recliner, pulling me on top of him.

"Bruce and I had a…talk, and I thought – he agrees, I think – that I should branch out on my own, take my own persona and do my own thing. So I put together a new suit – with help, of course. But I'll still be part of the 'Bat Clan', as you call it." He explains, and I lay my head on his shoulder. I bounce back and forth between asking him how long this has been going on, then decide to save it for another day. There are more important things I want to ask.

"So you're going to Blüdhaven." I feel him looking at me intently, studying me the way only a true Bat could.

"With you, I was hoping. I mean, I don't want you to have to sell this place, in fact I'd rather you didn't just in case, but I was hoping it'd be _we're_ moving to Blüdhaven. Together." I could tell that Dick was trying to hide that he's nervous, but, after knowing him for so long, I could practically _see_ the nervousness anyway. I couldn't blame him, either. He's asking me to jump in head-first with him into something totally and completely new and unknown.

I lace my fingers with his, giving a light squeeze of assurance. "_We're_ going to Blüdhaven. Anything else come out of your manly heart-to-heart with Bruce? And don't even try to deny it, because we both know that's what it really was." Dick's laughing again, and I smirk in triumph before dissolving into giggles as well.

"He wants me to be in charge of the New Young Justice team."

"What about Red Tornado?"

Dick shakes his head, "No, less den mother, more of the mission-giving role. I'm already the leader, but I've stuck around long enough now to give out missions too. Without Bruce being there. You know, work more on the sidelines and give the fresh guys a chance at leading themselves. Although, I'll wind up being den mother too, no doubt."

"Aww, I can see it now, little Dickie baking in the kitchen with his frilly apron on. 'Come on, kiddies! Who wants cookies!'" Dick attempts to shove me off in retaliation, but I pull him down with me, resulting in us falling into a tangled heap on the floor.

"I refuse to do that. I am not Miss M." Dick says, a little breathlessly. I adjust slightly so my arm isn't at a painful angle, and find myself face to, well, face with the new bird on my boyfriend's chest.

"Side note – you never told me the new name for yourself."

"Interesting story. Superman told me a legend of sorts about a hero from Krypton, so I'm using the hero's name. I'll tell you the story some day; I'd have to ask him to write it down so I don't skip anything." I know he's prolonging telling me purposely, but I take the bait anyway.

"But what is the _name_? You said yourself, you're not Robin anymore."

"No, Jason is going to take my place."

"Really? Batsy's replacing you that fast? Nevermind. Just _tell me_, Dick!" I sigh heavily in exasperation.

Dick gently untangles himself from me before pulling us both up so we are standing nearly exactly like we were before.

"My name, you ask?" he spreads his arms wide, and I roll my eyes at his theatricality, "My name, is Nightwing." I pull his head down and kiss him, before whispering in his ear:

"Nightwing and Nightshadow. We may quite possibly be the _cutest_ crime-fighting couple _ever._" I tease him. He groans in response – obviously he hadn't thought of that. I got the suspicious feeling that Superman had purposely told Dick _that_ story, so that we would have similar names.

But there's still a real, genuine smile on his face, and I'm still in his arms, and that's all that matters.

Because as long as we have each other, I know everything will be as close to _perfect_ as possible.

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><p><em><strong>And that's all she wrote, folks. I hope that this satisfies those of you who read it, those of you who enjoyed these stories that I wrote.<strong>_

_**I wish you all the best, and long live Young Justice!**_

_**SAHW, for the last time,  
>Vid.<strong>_


End file.
